War From Below: Chronicles of the Third Coming
by esfwolf
Summary: 11 years since the Second Coming.The girls have gone their separate ways,but they will not be forgotten by Cephiro's new enemy in his quest to dominate the Land of Will.**Graphic battle scenes**Like the movie version of the 3rd sequel.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1  
  
Hikaru drew in a deep breath and switched on her vintage Carvin amp, setting the reverb and depth high and the volume to blasting. She brushed her small, delicately-boned hand through the long, wispy spikes floating around her head like a halo and tried to ignore the bright stage lights shining into her eyes. *Here goes nothing,* she thought nervously, readjusting the shoulder strap of her true love, a fiery-red Fender American Stratocaster, to fit a little more comfortably. The young guitarist quickly played through a few minor keys to make sure her baby was in tune and gave a 'thumbs up' to the guy standing further to the front of the stage. Everyone called him Rev; Hikaru didn't think anybody knew if he had a real name or not. Rev nodded acknowledgment, his shoulder-length brown hair flowing with the movement, and quickly checked on the others. Jo, the petite blonde drummer, waved one of her bashing sticks (as Jo liked to call them) and grinned happily in anticipation. The bassist, glum Gothic Zach, nodded stoically and waited.  
  
Everything was ready.  
  
Rev smoothly strapped on his weapon of choice, a Gibson Firebird with a hot sunburst design. He flicked the amp on and shoved his pedal forward with his foot. One final check to his bandmates, his signature cocky grin, and he was ready to roll. Hikaru was breathing harder and harder, unable to contain her nerves . . . *I'm going to mess up, then Rev's going to kill me, and I won't be able to ever get into a band again . . .* she babbled frantically to herself as Rev welcomed the crowd that had come to see their virgin performance at the small dive, known (ironically enough) only as the Dive. *Shut up and play Hikaru,* she ordered firmly and twirled her pick agilely between her fingers for luck. Rev was just winding up the spiel . . . "Get yourselves ready for Knights of Chaos!!" he broke into the descending riff of the first song, Hikaru playing counterpoint, with Zach's fingers flashing nimbly through the baseline. Jo, grinning madly and pumped with adrenaline, smashed into the drums like she was impersonating Animal from the Muppets.  
  
End of intro, start the verses. Hikaru switched over without thinking, hours upon hours of practice evident in the effortless transition as she leaned forward toward the microphone and sang with her 'mates . . . .  
  
Ever wake up in the middle of the night Knowing it's out there Waiting for you? Ever run, breathless Searching for the light Finding no one who seems to care about you?  
  
Fight on, friend Fight the pain and carry on Make your mark on the world around you Feel the heat . . . the fight goes on!  
  
A screaming riff blasted from Rev's guitar, his face clenched into a tense grin as he beat through the lick and returned to the mic.  
  
Ever drop wounded onto the ground Crushed to the dirt by the faceless ones? Ever feel the need for a friend to come round Back to back Clashing 'gainst the endless drones?  
  
Fight on, friend Fight the pain and carry on Make your mark on the world around you Feel the heat . . . the fight goes on!  
  
Hikaru's turn. She closed her eyes briefly and launched into a random melodic, a bit different from Rev's angry notes, focusing in on the hope and comradeship she found in the lyrics of the song rather than the angst and rage. Then it was Jo's ear-blasting solo . . . another repeat of the chorus . . . and it was over. Hikaru blinked and wiped the sweat from her face. Her ears were ringing, her body was shivering all over from the music vibes, and was that . . . applause? She looked out into the crowd in astonishment - it wasn't the deafening sound she had imagined in her dreams of this moment, but it was there.  
  
"Wooooooo hooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!" Hikaru jumped as Jo let out a rowdy whoop of joy; the drummer smiled sheepishly at Zach and shrugged unashamedly when Rev turned to look at her with a quirked eyebrow. Zach was his usual stoic self, blending into the background with his black attire, although Hikaru thought she could detect a certain unusual exhilaration shining through in his countenance. She could hardly believe she was here . . . with her friends . . . doing what they loved to do. She felt a joyful smile creeping across her face and waved wildly at Jo in triumph before preparing for the next number, her earlier doubts and fears lost in the endorphins screaming through her bloodstream. But as she looked out into the crowd, she felt something missing . . . she could see no one here with icy blue hair topping a haughty (though kind) expression . . . nor did anyone sport extra-large glasses and an aura of easy friendliness. . . .  
  
Hikaru sighed, automatically backing Rev up on the next song, feeling the drum beat and throbbing bass vibrate in her soul. *Geez, I miss you guys . . . .*  
  
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"Ungh," Hikaru grunted as she shoved the last speaker into the band's beat- up van, Wheeler. She huffed out another breath in relief and shook out her bare arms, her red tank top drenched with the sweat of nerves and exertion. *Holy gods, I can't wait to take a shower . . . .* "Hey Rev!" she called absently while trying to stretch out her aching back and shoulders. "Anything else?"  
  
"No, Hikaru, we're set," Rev's smooth voice answered from inside the Dive. "Just going to get the dinero from Fred and we're out of here."  
  
"OK." Hikaru finished her stretching and checked her watch, pushing the little glow button so she could see the digits. *3 AM,* she thought with a wince. *And Zach and I have to be back here to pass out drinks and haul out drunks by two tomorrow?* She sighed despondently. *I hope Fred is a little understanding if neither of us is exactly up to par . . . although he was the one who suggested this gig. That's what I'll tell him if he says anything,* she decided with a firm nod. Then she smiled. *Like Fred's ever going to be anything but a sweetie. How someone like him ever cooked up a place like this I will never know . . . ."*  
  
Jo bolted out of the building at a run, heading straight for Hikaru with a huge grin plastered on her face. *Uh oh,* Hikaru thought, bracing herself quickly against Wheeler as the blonde torpedo shot toward her. Jo opened her arms wide and crushed her red-haired friend in a huge hug, screaming at the top of her lungs, "WEDIDIT WEDIDIT WEDIDIT WEDIDIT!!!!" Hikaru attempted to breathe in enough to respond, but had to wait for Jo to loosen her grip a little . . . *I guess those kendo lessons I'm giving her are really paying off!* "Jo," she gasped, choking slightly, "Need air . . . ."  
  
"Oops!" Jo backed off hurriedly, her typical, maniacally happy face toned down for the moment. "Sorry 'Karu. It's just that . . .," her blue eyes once again lit with happiness and she was almost trembling with puppy-dog eagerness, "We got PAID!!!!!" Hikaru smiled faintly and crossed her arms, leaning against Wheeler and waiting for it to start. *Here we go: Psycho- Jo, take it away!* The young drummer began jumping excitedly on the pavement, her bouncy fervor restored. "I have MONEY!!!! I can BUY things!!! ME!! MONEY!! YES!!!!!" Hikaru laughed tolerantly; Jo never seemed to be able to calm down very long for anything. *Reminds me of myself when I was her age . . . oh come on, Hikaru, just because Saturday is the big quarter-century B-day doesn't mean that you're an old hag . . . I think Umi said you have to wait till thirty . . . .*  
  
She glanced past the bubbly blonde to the guy just exiting the Dive with a swirl of a black trenchcoat, his dour demeanor a soothing counterpoint to the "all-flowers-all-the-time" girl. Hard to believe they were siblings, she mused as Zach silently paced past his sister (still babbling nonstop about . . . something or other) and placed his bass (an Ibanez SR400) carefully into Wheeler. He slammed the doors shut and looked impassively down at Hikaru from his 6'4 height, long black bangs falling forward into his eyes, and shifted his baby-blues to Jo. He said nothing, though Hikaru was forced to chuckle at his discomfited expression. "Don't worry, Zach," she said soothingly, reaching up to pat his shoulder. "There's no one here; she won't embarrass you this time . . . ."  
  
"Hey!" An unfamiliar, gravel-laden voice called from the head of the back alley where the stage door to the Dive was located. Hikaru smirked at the sudden pain that appeared on Zach's face and strolled to the front of the van. She saw three people - *Really big people,* she thought, her brow furrowing as she took in their immense size - walking her way so she asked curiously, "You fellas need something?"  
  
The figures sauntered closer and closer, unanswering, and Hikaru felt a sudden sense of unease. Still closer . . . then her eyes widened in shock when faces were finally revealed in the dim street lights.  
  
"No," she whispered hoarsely.  
  
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Fuu opened her small mailbox and gasped with joy, an uncommonly wide grin brightening her face like a switched-on bulb. *Hikaru!* she thought ecstatically, her eyes instantly drawn to the American flag stamps her itinerant friend had taken to using since the tragedy on September 11, 2001.  
  
She raced to the elevator and pressed 6, almost jumping with impatience as the elevator car seemed to carry her upwards even more slowly than usual. As soon as the doors opened she ran to her apartment and quickly fumbled through her small purse for her keys, juggling her briefcase and a monster stack of ungraded papers in her hurry to get inside. *I can't believe it's finally here!* she thought happily, finally feeling her keys among the random items in her pocketbook. She opened the sturdy wooden portal to her home and entered swiftly, locking the door behind her. She slipped off her brown loafers and strode in stocking feet through the small living room to the kitchen bar, slapping papers and classy leather briefcase down and forgetting - just this once - about getting right to her work.  
  
Fuu returned to her well-appointed den and eagerly sat on the pastel-green sofa, drawing her slim legs under her and switching on the lamp before tearing open the envelope.  
  
Dearest Fuu,  
  
I hope this letter finds you coming home from a wild night of partying with a handsome stud on your arm . . . no? Well maybe not, but if it does, I want to hear all.  
  
Things are great in New York; Fred's letting Zach and me work overtime this week to make up for next Thursday night, when Knights of Chaos has its first gig. I'm so very nervous, Fuu. I wish you and Umi were here to tell me I'm being silly and that I'll do fine. Don't worry though, I can just see you two in my head, telling me that we're going to be a big hit and not to worry about it.  
  
Rev and Zach have us practicing at every spare moment of every day - I swear I am even playing in my sleep! I can tell Rev is really excited, but it is a bit harder to verify Zach's feelings. He's got such a tight hold on his emotions you have to know him pretty well to perceive if he's feeling anything. You would love these two guys, Fuu, they're like brothers to me - and believe me, it's great to be on the older end of the sibling ladder for once! Then of course there's little Jo, who is always wound up over everything. Remind you of anyone we used to know?  
  
How's that assistant professor thing working out for you? If they're giving you a hard time in your classes, just refer them to me and I'll soon set them straight for you. With a shinai (A/N: bamboo-lathe practice sword used in kendo), that is. Who would have thought, our little Fuu, broadening all those hundreds of little minds to actual cognitive reasoning . . . it blows my mind sometimes, where we all ended up. Me working at the Dive here in NYC, trying to make my band work, you teaching at the University of Tokyo, Umi kicking executive booty at one of the biggest advertising firms in Japan. And all of us getting older.  
  
No, Fuu, I can see that smile on your face - I'm really not depressed about my birthday in a couple weeks. My TWENTY-FIFTH birthday . . . ok maybe a little depressed. I'm going to be a quarter-century old, Fuu. It's so strange - whenever I think about that, it seems like . . . Cephiro, all those years ago . . . it's so far away now. Do you ever think about our adventures anymore, Fuu? Do you miss it, too? It's hard, isn't it . . . coming back from saving the world - TWICE - and then being expected to just get back to life like nothing happened. None of us have ever really talked about ever going back . . . do you think we will? Will we ever get to see our Cephiro - the world we helped create - ever again? I don't know, but I hope so.  
  
I'll write you again after the gig and tell you everything. Until then, Fuu, take care of yourself and don't work too hard. I know that's like telling Jo to calm down enough to get anything coherent out of her, but I have to try. Oh yeah, and also GET OUT OF THAT APARTMENT AND HAVE SOME FUN! That's an order, miss. Umi has instructions to make sure you find your way to a party or something soon.  
  
I miss you girls.  
  
Best friends and Knights forever, Hikaru  
  
Fuu sighed through a small smile as she finished Hikaru's newsy letter. As usual, her friend seemed more concerned about Fuu's lack of any social life than her own stresses - namely the Knights of Chaos and their opening gig. The Fuu of twenty-five was not really far removed from the Fuu of fourteen . . . rather quiet, shy, and intellectual. She felt that social engagements were all potential embarrassments or nights of extreme boredom without her two best friends around, so she rarely went out unless Umi managed to drag her to yet another one of those 'upper-crust' parties the business executive was so fond of. *I guess Umi will be calling soon to invite me to another.* She reached up almost unconsciously to run a hand through her hair, which was cut in nearly the same chin-length style she had always preferred. *At least I got rid of those glasses,* she thought, blessing the modern applications of laser surgery. *I have to remember to tell Hikaru about that in my next letter,* she reminded herself absently.  
  
She gazed thoughtfully out the huge window set into the outer wall of her apartment, allowing the letter fall from her hands and flutter into her lap, watching the mantle of twilight swiftly following on the wings of the setting sun, lights flickering on throughout the city in technological defiance of the coming nighttime darkness. Her mind was racing beyond the horizon, to a time far in her past . . . Cephiro. Her brow furrowed slightly as she re-read Hikaru's strange reference in her letter. They hadn't talked about Cephiro in . . . years.  
  
*Why bring it up so suddenly,* she wondered, puzzled. The adventures . . . the forging of three unfamiliar girls into best friends and Magic Knights . . . the pain of loss and the joy of victory . . . the ache of departure. Sudden tears stung her emerald-green eyes. "Ferio," Fuu whispered aloud, barely aware that she had done so. She had tried to forget him, tried to find someone else to take his place at her side, knowing in her heart that she was never going to see him again. But it had been a futile effort. The soft gaze from his golden eyes as he held her close still invaded her dreams, all these years later. She would never forget him, and she would never be able to replace him.  
  
Fuu sat for a while on the plush couch, watching the stars emerge one by one in the clear night sky, pondering the things that might have been if only . . . . She shook her head ruefully. *This isn't getting me anywhere,*she thought firmly. *Cephiro was a wonderful place, and I am glad I had the chance to aid the people there; however my life is here now. I will not allow wishes and fancy to take over my life.* On that note, she rose with her typical grace and went into the kitchen, grabbing the stack of quantum physics tests that were begging to be graded. *I'll just start these, then get dinner,* she thought as she brought them into the guest bedroom which she had fixed up as an office.  
  
Fuu had just sat down at her expansive desk, red pen at the ready, when she heard a loud *Thump!* She froze in her chair. "What in the world . . . ." her voice trailed off as a second, then a third loud thud followed the first. *That sounded like it came from the den . . . .* she thought nervously, forcing herself to rise from the desk and slip quietly to the door. She carefully poked her head around the doorframe, trying to slow her breathing. She couldn't spot anything from where she was; she would have to go down the short hallway to see the entire room. *OK, Fuu, just get moving . . . there's probably nothing there,* she thought as she tiptoed into the dark hall. *It's probably just the neighbors upstairs moving furniture again,* she tried to convince herself. The anxious girl flattened her body against the wall before peeking around the corner, praying madly.  
  
"My God!" she breathed in horror.  
  
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"No, I don't want to go out tonight, Tetsuo. No. Why? I'm tired; I've been working overtime all week and all I want to do is go to sleep." Umi rubbed her aching forehead and leaned back in her cushy, black leather chair, propping her stocking-feet on the corner of her office desk. She listened to Tetsuo silently for a moment, waiting for a chance to break in. "Listen, Tetsuo, I have to see a client before I go home. I'll call you, ok?" she asked hurriedly before hanging up in relief. "Will I never be rid of that man," she asked wearily, covering her face with both hands. *At least he didn't ask you to marry him again,* she reminded herself. *It could have most definitely been worse.*  
  
She remained in her chair for a long moment, consciously relaxing her muscles, trying to let all the tension and stress from the previous two weeks drain out of her body. It had all been worth it though, she recalled in satisfaction. They had snagged the Nike: Japan contract right from under the noses of their closest rivals, laughing the entire way. *OK, maybe not laughing,* Umi corrected, recalling the long, sleepless hours of intense work she and her team had put in. *But it all turned out well . . . and we can laugh now.* Her lips curled in a wicked smile, sharp blue eyes sparkling with satisfied humor.  
  
She was, after all, an old hand at engaging in cutthroat warfare in order to get what she wanted. She had battled her way into this company, fighting rivals and superiors with every promotion and raise. At times it felt like she was participating in an endless fencing tournament, scoring touch after touch on her opponents while she herself remained unscathed. *Touché, Kanzaki and Sons.*  
  
Umi yawned widely and stretched her arms high above her head until she could feel her vertebrae pop. "Oof," she grunted. "I really have to get back into fencing every day." She let her arms drop and sat straighter in her chair, letting her feet fall to the floor as she picked up the phone once again "Kadiri?"  
  
"Yes, Umi-san?" Umi's new secretary answered. The blue-haired executive sighed with impatience. She hated it when her secretaries called her Umi- san.  
  
"Kadiri, would you please do me a favor and call Nahoko?" Umi paused, then smiled that wicked smile again and continued, "Tell her I'm getting out of shape and I need her to beat on me for a while with pointy objects." She could hear her prim secretary choke slightly. "Uh . . . yes ma'am. Um . . . pointy objects. Yes, right away, ma'am."  
  
"Thank you Kadiri. I'm going home now, so you needn't stay. Have a nice weekend."  
  
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. You too, ma'am."  
  
Umi hung up the phone and rolled her ice-blue eyes. *Wow. I'm going to have a hard time retraining this one, aren't I?* She shrugged her shoulders philosophically. *Ah, well. Gives me something fun to do.* She stood and strolled to the floor-to-ceiling windows that took up two walls in her austere corner office. The sun was just setting, making way for the dark crystal of the night sky. Umi glanced absently at her watch . . . *5PM. Making it an early night for once.* She reached up and pressed a long-fingered, pale hand to the glass, shuddering as she felt its frosty cold. *Almost winter,* she mused, removing her hand and pressing it under her arm to stave off the chill. *Maybe I should think about taking a winter holiday . . . I haven't spoken to - much less seen - my parents in weeks, and poor Fuu . . . she gets so lonely.* Umi frowned unhappily at the direction her thoughts were taking her . . . *I haven't heard from Hikaru since last month, either. Her letter's due soon. Maybe she'll be able to take a couple of days to come back home . . . .*  
  
*CRASH!!!!!!* Umi rolled into a summersault reflexively as an immense, shadow-clad figure smashed through the window mere inches from where the tired woman had been standing nanoseconds before. The black form flew by her to smack heavily against the far wall while Umi rose smoothly from her tumble in a defensive stance. "What the hell??" she burst out, watching the shape recover from its collision and clumsily rise to its feet. Her eyes widened as two more beings, mirror images to the first, shattered the other window with their entry. "We're on the damned 25th floor!! How the hell did you . . .?"  
  
"Who are you?" She yelled angrily, her fear providing instant, endorphin- charged energy.  
  
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OK, that's the first installment of my first MKR fanfic. If you like, please tell me so, and I will continue to post new installments. Thanks! 


	2. powers unfold

Thursday, November 6: New York City, 3AM  
  
"No," Hikaru whispered hoarsely, backing up until she bumped into Wheeler.  
  
The trio of gigantic figures towered over the stunned girl by several feet, misshapen mouths widened into terrifyingly vicious smiles. Three pairs of sulfurous eyes glowed with malevolent pleasure at her obvious fear and confusion. They were hideous creatures - heavily-muscled bipedal gargantuans with a nasty yellow-green tint to their hides, slouching forward in an ape-like fashion to accommodate their over-long arms. Sharp horns thrust forward above their pointed ears through black, stringy hanks of hair, grotesque complements to the tusks sported between heavy lips. They wore nothing but poorly-tanned loincloths bound about their hips, hairy torsos bare to the crisp autumn chill. Hikaru's horrified eyes were drawn to the rusty, pitted swords held threateningly in the creatures' huge hands, and she froze.  
  
"Who . . .," she began, her voice faltering . . . .  
  
"Hikaru?" She heard Zach calling from the back of the van. "What do they want? I don't do autographs."  
  
Hikaru forced herself to move, reminded that the two precious people back there - her friends, her adopted American family - were in danger. She jumped agilely onto the hood of Wheeler and sprang for the monster in the lead, not allowing herself to think about the pointy, rusty sword that could so swiftly end her life . . . .  
  
"YAAAAAAHHHHHH!" She yelled in desperation, thrusting a fist forward with all the strength twenty-five years of practicing kendo had built. The massive figures paused in puzzlement, unsure now of their prey. In their hesitation, the swords sank slightly, brutish idiocy clearly evident on their faces as their grips loosened. *SMACK!* Hikaru drilled her punch into the leader's evil yellow eye, the entire combined force of her weight and momentum sinking into the fragile orb.  
  
"RAAAAAAAWWWWWLLLLLLL!!" The creature's head snapped backwards and he roared in bestial pain and fury. Hikaru gagged at its foul breath and, desperately grabbing onto the sharp horns for leverage, hoisted herself up, swinging in the air directly in front of the monster's pain-filled visage. Unaware of the beast's powerful hand flying towards her, she smoothly pulled her knees in to her chest and thrust them outward with a quick *snap!* Hikaru grinned tightly at the sound of nasal bones shattering, although her victim was not equally pleased. He staggered backwards with another anguished, inhuman bellow, blundering into one of his astonished companions and knocking them both down onto the ground. Hikaru rode the lumbering giant to the pavement, then swiftly launched into a forward roll over her two prone enemies, aware that the third creature was still standing and was now behind her.  
  
"Hikaru?! Holy - what the hell?!" Zach's panicked voice penetrated the monster's cry, and he ran impulsively forward into the nightmare.  
  
"No, Zach! Run! Just get Jo and get out of here!" Hikaru yelled frantically, jumping to her feet. She leaped back towards her friends, trying to place herself between the current threat and the young man rushing to his death. The brute snarled and sliced his sword at her head in a crude cross-body chop, forcing her to drop flat onto the pavement to avoid it. Zach ignored her entreaty and sprinted closer, almost invisible in the shadowy alley. "Get away from her, you freak!"  
  
Recovering ponderously from his overpowered swing, the creature brought his weapon high above his head, preparing to hack the prone woman into pieces, his face once again radiating cruel delight. Jo, standing aghast by Wheeler in shocked indecision, shrieked in terror, "No!! HIKARU!!!" The young drummer dashed after her brother, tears streaming down her pale cheeks, and wrenched her drum sticks out of a back pocket, preparing to strike with the feeble, makeshift weapons.  
  
Hikaru groaned in despair, watching the two race towards her, knowing in her heart she would not be able to save them . . . . *I will not let my friends die!!* She clenched her teeth, a blinding white fury overcoming her consciousness. . . .  
  
The scene inexplicably paused, decelerating in time. Hikaru absently watched the sword dropping one millimeter after another . . . the previously fallen monsters struggling to rise, almost unmoving . . . Zach and his sister running in slow motion, fear locked onto their faces as they drew closer, inch by inch . . . but it was so hard to concentrate . . . .  
  
She found herself floating a few feet above the ground, radiating an intense, shimmering light from every pore in her body. Her head was thrown back, scarlet hair flowing like it was drifting in a river's constant current, her arms thrown wide as if to embrace this overpowering phenomenon.  
  
She could feel . . . heat . . . like she was on fire; the cleansing glow burning through her veins . . . it was almost like that time . . . before . . . so long ago . . . when she had possessed the mystic powers of the legendary Magic Knights . . . .  
  
*What . . . .* Hikaru thought distractedly. It was so hard to think . . . to breathe . . . she didn't want to breathe; she craved only to feel the sweet burn of the compelling flames as they ran down and through her essence. Slowly, gradually, the burning light faded, and she touched gently back down onto the pavement. She staggered slightly, coming back to herself with the disappearance of the powerful fire, and raised a trembling hand to her forehead. *The hell . . . .* As her eyes focused, she glimpsed a strange . . . no, a familiar glove . . . with a large ruby inset on the back. She froze in shock at the sight, dropping her gaze to her torso. *It couldn't be . . . .*  
  
Her clothing had evaporated in the flames, replaced with the evolving armor of the Magic Knight of Fire.  
  
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Thursday, November 6: Tokyo, 5 PM (A/N: NYC has about a 14 hour time-differential from Tokyo, so this is all happening simultaneously.)  
  
Fuu inhaled sharply. "My God," she breathed in horror.  
  
She whipped her head back around the corner, praying that they had not seen her. *What . . . what ARE those things,* she thought in a panic, pressing her back against the corridor wall. The three monstrous forms she had espied were lumbering haphazardly about her living room, smashing apart Fuu's carefully-chosen furniture with negligent, brutish strength. The shattering crash of a broken window resonated through her apartment, and she choked back a terror-filled sob. *They don't sound very friendly, whatever they are . . . .* She nearly yelped aloud at the nearby sound of a lamp breaking against the wall, and forced herself to ruthlessly choke down her fright. *The apartment isn't very big . . . and it sounds like they're looking for something . . . or someone.* Her wide eyes, though still dilated in fear, gained a determined glint as she thought furiously, while the ungainly beasts came ever closer to her rather open hiding place.  
  
*The bedroom . . . there's a phone. I have to call the police.* She shook her head impatiently, discarding the idea even as she formulated it, and began retreating carefully back to her office. *They will not make it in time, and the neighbors have most likely done so already.* She had barely disappeared into her office when the first of the creatures stuck its ugly face around the corner, a thick swath of pastel green cloth hanging unheeded from a sharp tusk. It snorted and paced forward, oversized sword at the ready, following the weak, feminine scent of his prey . . . .  
  
Fuu searched frantically around the room for something - anything - that could be used as a weapon. Abandoning the pretense of silence, she rashly shoved furniture aside and pulled drawers open, finding only her neatly organized office supplies. She had begun hyperventilating in a panicked realization of her vulnerability when a beast thrust its head and shoulders through the doorframe, grinning maliciously and clutching a rusted sword. Fuu shrieked and began throwing whatever objects were closest at hand - pens, pencils, stapler, the as-yet ungraded stack of tests. The monster smirked at the writing utensils that bounced harmlessly against its skin, grunted sharply as the stapler careened off its thick-skulled forehead, and then retreated a step from the flying papers, swinging the sword to clear them from his line of vision  
  
One of the other brutes roared loudly with impatience. The creature in the office with Fuu craned its thick, bull-like neck around to growl back, and Fuu grabbed her last chance with desperation. She raced to the single, waist-high window opposite the door and thrust it open, allowing the cool night air to rush inside and alerting the wrangling monsters to her actions. As she frantically hoisted herself out of the room and onto the narrow stone ledge, the wall adjacent to the door suddenly burst inward with a shower of chalky drywall and splintered support beams, allowing all three intruders to enter.  
  
Fuu didn't allow herself to think about the six-story drop only inches to her right as she stood, the frigid wind whipping her short hair about her face, and began to edge carefully along the limestone causeway, brushing her fingers lightly against the red brick outer wall for balance. Her heart was pounding and her breath was still coming in gasps, but if she could just make it to the next window . . . . A sword was propelled with brutish strength through the window behind her, and thrust into the unprotected skin of her hamstring. She screamed as her leg buckled involuntarily, blood pouring out of the puncture, and she flew helplessly into an uncontrolled tumble into the sky . . . .  
  
*FWOOSH!* Fuu's eyes streamed with unchecked tears as she fell to her death, the wind becoming stronger and stronger as she plummeted . . . then she gasped with amazement. Though the wind grew in strength, buffeting her from all sides, she dropped no further, hanging effortlessly in midair a mere handful of feet above the impenetrable sidewalk concrete. Pedestrians and car drivers alike gaped at the spectacle; a girl surrounded by green- glowing gusts of strong winds, suspended motionless above the ground . . . .  
  
Fuu's emerald eyes fluttered shut as the winds flowed into her pores and filled her veins. A sure, undeniable power channeled through her, regenerating the torn muscles of her leg, forcing her to remember . . . . *Windom?* she thought distantly, every cell in her body reveling in the remembered energy from long ago. *I - This is . . . my healing magic. But I am on Earth . . . I can't heal on Earth . . . what is happening?* Her eyes slowly opened once more as she touched the ground softly with her booted feet. Fuu glanced down, confused . . . *My feet were bare moments ago . . . .*  
  
She gasped in shock as she took in the green-plated armor she had worn a lifetime ago . . . when she had fought for the future of a distant world as the legendary Wind Knight.  
  
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Thursday November 6: Tokyo, 5 PM  
  
"Who are you?" Umi yelled angrily through her inner scream of fear.  
  
The gargantuan figures snarled in reply as they rose shakily, hands automatically finding the hilts of the swords sheathed at their hips. Umi gasped in terror when they glared at her in cruel, twisted amusement. She was finally able to make out their brutal faces in the subdued lighting of her sparse office. "O-Ok, then WHAT are you?" she asked shakily, fear- filled eyes growing wider with each passing moment. The only answer she received was a bestial roar as the three strode forward with malevolent intent. Umi backed a few paces involuntarily. *This has to be a dream, Umi,* she told herself, trying to be logical in the face of the three nightmare creatures striding towards her. "Wake the hell up, Umi!!" she yelled frantically, pinching her arm. Nothing.  
  
"Dammit!" She quit her efforts with a frustrated hiss and sprinted to her desk, flying on the winds of her desperation. She could hear the beasts' heavy breathing as they lumbered closer, taloned feet tearing into the gray carpet with little ripping noises.  
  
*GettheswordsGettheswordsGettheswords!!!* her mind babbled incoherently as she vaulted nimbly over her wide, wooden desk to the wall beyond, upon which a pair of crossed sabers rested. She grabbed both of them by the hilts and yanked them off the elegant wall mount before spinning around to face the threat once more, her face clenched into a rigid mask of fear and determination. "Whatever the hell you are, you're in the wrong office," she growled threateningly, automatically balancing her weight in a defensive stance, swords pointed to the fore. She jerked her head towards the door. "That bastard Tetsuo is five floors down. Go eat him."  
  
The monsters paused momentarily in confusion, cocking their heads almost simultaneously as they attempted to understand her words. *Oh for the love of . . . .* Umi rolled her eyes in exasperation. *Just how stupid can you be?* She screamed a challenging war-cry and charged forward, running unerringly for the brute closest to the exit. *If I can just get through him . . . .* she thought, slashing her sword across its fingers with perfect form. *Nahoko would be so proud.*  
  
The monster bellowed in protest and pain at its stinging fingers, dropping its weapon from the sudden shock. It glared furiously down at the saber- wielding woman and raised its taloned hand to strike in return. Umi ducked agilely under the swooping hand and thrust the point of her sword into the lumbering creature's back with all her strength. "RRRAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWLLLLLLL!!!!!!!" it bellowed as dark blood poured out of the rent in its yellow-green hide. "Ha!" Umi yelled in triumph, jerking her sword out of the wound and quickly dodging another wild swipe.  
  
*I'm out of here,* she thought, giddy with adrenaline and elation. She bolted for the door, dropping one of her sabers as she reached for the handle. *THWACK!!* Umi jumped back; a seven-foot sword was now quivering in the doorframe beside her head. *Dammit!* She looked over her shoulder at the two hulks coming toward her, much closer than she thought they'd been . . . . *Now what, genius?* she asked herself, backing against the blocked door with her weapon ready, eyes flicking back and forth as she tried to figure a way out . . . .  
  
*FOOOOOM!!!!* Umi was suddenly thrown back into the wooden portal by an unseen force, punching her through the obstacle like it was paper. Her fingers loosened, and she dropped her sword, although she was past noticing such trivial matters. . . . She floated in the air in her secretary's empty office, her head thrown back, eyes closed. *Huh . . . .* A shimmering pool of crystal-clear water formed under her feet and began creeping up her body, soaking into her skin and zipping through her bloodstream. *So . . . cool . . . refreshing . . . *she thought with a vague smile. The liquid flowed upwards until it reached over her head, creating a perfect cylinder around her body. Umi breathed it in, the relaxing fluid, feeling her muscles slacken. *Nice . . . .*  
  
She opened her eyes again as she landed gently on the ground, and staggered to Kadiri's desk, leaning on the solid surface for support. "What . . . the HELL . . . was that?!" she gasped, shoulders heaving in synch with her labored breath. She glanced quickly to the splintered door, remembering at last the clear and present danger, and shoved herself up onto her feet. *Get to the phone and call security, you ninny!!* she scolded herself, reaching across the desk. She froze as she finally focused on the white glove now adorning her hand, and followed the line of her arm to the powerful, lightweight covering she now wore. *Oh . . . my . . . .*  
  
Umi was speechless at the sight of her returned armor, the blue-tinted protective shell of the Magic Knight of Water. *Seles . . .? * 


	3. hikaru's battle

Head . . . hurts . . . too much writing . . . . I really got into this story over the past couple of days, and I know exactly where it's going, but I think that I may need a day or five to recover from the 5-10 hour writing marathons. My eyeballs are falling out . . . .^^;  
  
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Thursday, November 6: New York City, 3AM  
  
Hikaru stood frozen in disbelief, shocked eyes taking in the inconceivable sight of the magical armor. "This is not possible . . . ." she breathed aloud . . . .  
  
*CLANG!* The bemused Knight jumped nervously, her ears assaulted by the sudden discordant cacophony. Attention effectively returned to the battle, she watched in fascination as the deadly greatsword, the fateful weapon she had somehow escaped in her impossible transformation, scraped uselessly against the pavement in a shower of sparks. The dim-witted beast striking the blow snorted in confusion at the sudden disappearance of his target. "Huh?" It grunted stupidly, cocking its head to the side and regarding the empty space, unaware of Hikaru's presence only meters away, hidden in the shadows.  
  
"Where is she, you bastard?!" The newly-armed Magic Knight swiftly shifted her gaze at the rage-filled roar of challenge, eyes widening in helpless horror as she watched Zach charge unswervingly into the evil behemoth, swinging his fists in a berserker fury. "NO!!" she screamed, unheard in the melee. She raised her arms in panic-stricken determination and gritted her teeth, struggling frantically recall the words that would send the magic coursing through her veins . . . .  
  
The creature, completely unfazed by the attack, snarled at Zach with an irritated grimace of hatred and shoved him into the alley wall with a negligent sweep of its heavy arm. Zach's head smacked painfully against the bricks, and he slid noiselessly to the alley floor, unconscious. "HEY!!" Jo screamed, sprinting seconds behind her brother. She clenched her teeth in helpless anger, tears leaking from her furious blue eyes, drum sticks at the ready . . . .  
  
"Hono no YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Hikaru's voice echoed throughout the alleyway as a giant, flaming arrow ripped through the air and smashed with lethal force into the huge monster's torso. ""RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" It bayed in startled agony, dropping its weapon and falling helplessly onto its side, attempting to smother the stinging fires creeping over its greenish skin.  
  
Jo halted in her steps, her arms lowering slowly, and turned her head stiffly along the arrow's trajectory until she could see the red-haired woman, dressed like a fantastic knight in a fairy tale and standing with gloved hands outstretched. "H-Hikaru . . . .?" Jo trailed off, backing up several small steps, her face locked in amazement and terror.  
  
Hikaru's heart ached at the sight of Jo's terrified expression, but she pushed the sensation to the back of her mind as she caught a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye. The other two monsters had regained their feet, callously ignoring their screaming, scorched comrade, yellow eyes glowing with anger and frustration at the sight of their prey yet standing. The leader, minus one eye and missing his sword, sprang forward and slashed at the exhausted Knight with his inch-long claws, roaring in fury. Hikaru stumbled backwards in panic, and instinctively summoned her magic sword from its resting place inside the magical ruby inset on her glove. The broadsword obeyed her command at once, appearing in her hands as though she were fourteen again and had never left Cephiro. She had no time to think - the beast was ruthlessly lunging towards her, gaping maw leading to rake her with jagged teeth and tusks - so she surrendered to her lifelong training, her kendo-honed reflexes sending her diving to the attacker's blind side in a controlled tumble. The rampaging beast thundered past her, barely missing her unprotected back with a vicious snap of its jaws. She smoothly rolled to her feet and pivoted on her heel, using the force from the motion to swing her weapon around and chop heavily into the creature's exposed neck with all her strength. The magically- wrought blade sheared through muscle and bone like there was naught but air in its path, cleaving the monstrous head from its shoulders with a single stroke.  
  
Her instincts screamed at her halfway through the maneuver - the other enemy was too close!! She shifted her weight as she completed the powerful swing and spun in a tight half-circle, crying out loudly in pain as her shoulders screamed protest, and then shoved the gory tip of her broadsword into the expansive chest of the charging third giant. The monster bellowed an enraged death cry, stumbling over its suddenly unresponsive legs and crashing onto the swiftly-cooling corpse of its comrade, forcing Hikaru to tear the sword through its ribs and leap aside quickly to avoid being crushed by its bulk.  
  
Hikaru stood in the dim light of the back alley, loosely gripping her weapon. Her breath heaved in and out, her legs trembled with exertion and shock, and sweat poured unchecked down her face, but she straightened with an effort of will and staggered across the alley to the charred hulk attempting to rise. It snarled weakly at her approach and snapped its teeth together in a feeble effort to intimidate her. Hikaru gagged at the scent of crisped flesh and quickly shoved her sword through its skull. She released the hilt and stepped shakily back, dropping suddenly onto the ground as her legs refused to hold her up any longer. She sat for several minutes, shivering uncontrollably, arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders, trying to make sense of what had just happened.  
  
* Zach . . . Jo . . . they could have died . . . they could so easily have died . . . and those - those THINGS - were after me.*  
  
She winced at her thoughts, and then forced herself to glance at Jo.  
  
The young girl was still standing uncertainly next to her fallen brother, staring in confused horror at the woman in fiery-red armor sitting on the ground. Their eyes met for a moment in silence, then Jo seemed to wake up a little. "H-Hikaru?" she whispered. "Are you - are you OK?" Her face was still pale and her eyes red from crying, and it seemed she would break down at any moment. Hikaru shoved aside her own shock and anxiety and rose, forcing her legs to obey, striding quickly to the girl and wrapping her in a tight hug. Jo resisted for a fraction of a second, unsure of the blooded warrior her friend and pseudo-sister had become, but her need for comfort in the face of the recent chaos was too great. She leaned into Hikaru's embrace desperately, sobs shaking her small shoulders. "Shhh, it's OK," Hikaru whispered, rocking slightly. "They can't hurt you. They're gone." She glanced down to see Zach lying prone on the cold asphalt, and gently persuaded Jo to release her. "I have to make sure Zach's OK, Jo," she said soothingly, and removed the girl's arms. She knelt beside her fallen friend, landing heavily as her abused muscled protested, then looked up again with a weary, resigned expression when she heard Rev's shocked voice exclaiming, "What the HELL is going on out here? Hikaru? Zach? Jo, there you are, where's . . . ." He halted in amazement when he passed around Wheeler's shielding bulk, viewing the carnage in the alley.  
  
Rev stepped timorously forward to the stiff corpses of the massive beasts, recoiling in horror when he got a good look at them. He spun around again to Hikaru and Jo, speechless in the face of this horrific scene from a sci- fi thriller. Hikaru forced herself to ignore both him and Jo, removing her gloves and smoothing Zach's black hair from his face. She knew next to nothing about head wounds. *What should I do now?* she thought tiredly, disheartened tears rising, unchecked in her expressive eyes. Zach suddenly groaned in pain and shifted slightly, his eyes opening to slits. "Hikaru?" he rasped, his head throbbing painfully with a searing headache. "Where's Jo?"  
  
"She's right here, Zach," Hikaru answered in heartfelt relief, reaching up to grab Jo's hand and gently tug her down so Zach could see. He smiled faintly and brought a hand to his pounding head. "Wha' happened?" he muttered, attempting to sit up with uncooperative limbs. Hikaru and Jo gripped his arms and lifted him enough to rest his back against the alley wall he had been slammed against earlier. "Hikaru got them, Zach," Jo replied, her voice getting stronger as the reality of surviving the ordeal began to penetrate her distress. "Huh?" he asked, looking up at his sister in confusion. His eyes widened as his memories returned. "Those things? Where are they? Is everyone alright?" he asked swiftly, craning his neck to see past the two females. "No, Zach, they're dead," Jo answered again, grabbing his chin and making him look at her. "Hikaru killed them. They're gone."  
  
As Zach sat dumb in amazement, taking in Hikaru's bizarre costume for the first time, he opened his mouth . . . .  
  
*VOOOOSH!!!* Whatever Zach had been about to say was lost forever in rapidly rising winds that gusted powerfully through the alley, forcing the occupants to protect their faces from loose debris. "Rev!!" Hikaru yelled over the noise, catching the shocked man's gaze. "We need to get Zach behind Wheeler!" Rev hesitated, then nodded in agreement and fought the crushing gales to her side. They threw their friend swiftly over their shoulders and dragged him to the sheltering mass of the van, Jo following close behind. As soon as they reached a position of relative safety, Hikaru untangled herself from Zach and crept along Wheeler's flank, squinting desperately through the whirlwind.  
  
Then an ear-splitting popping noise, like a massive balloon exploding, abruptly echoed throughout the alley and the winds halted instantaneously. Hikaru jumped up and ran to the front of the van, ignoring Rev's cry and Jo's loud protest. *I have to protect them . . . .* was her only thought as she prepared to unleash Akai Inazma, her powerful Ruby Lightning, upon any new intruders.  
  
She stopped short, skidding slightly in her rush to halt, and gawked at the new arrival in amazement, unconsciously relaxing her defensive posture. "Rayearth . . . ." she breathed.  
  
The large red mashin looked at her impassively from its tremendous height, the red, white, and gold of its metallic body shimmering vividly even in the uncertain light of the alley. "Hail, Magic Knight of Fire," it said, its deep voice resonating, as though sounded from the bottom of a deep well. "I summon thee now to thy duty. Cephiro is in need." It bent down and reached out a huge hand as if to take hold of her. Hikaru was too astounded to protest, standing silently as the giant fingers swooped towards her . . . .  
  
"NO, HIKARU!!!" Jo shrieked and rushed out from behind Wheeler, dodging Rev's quickly outflung hand and running smack into the Magic Knight, hugging her tightly. The mashin hesitated at this unexpected behavior, and Hikaru wrapped one arm around the sobbing girl. "Don't worry, Jo, this is . . . a friend," she whispered reassuringly, and turned once more to the giant robotic figure. "Rayearth, if I go with you, will my friends here be safe from further attacks?" Rayearth regarded her mutely for a long moment, then shifted its gaze to the young female attached to his counterpart's arm. "I know not the answer to your query, Magic Knight of Fire," it responded finally. "I have been prevented from appearing on thy world, until thou called upon the powers of thy armor and sword in battle. There are forces mightier than I at play in the realms of Earth and Cephiro." Hikaru hissed impatiently at the evasive answer and thought furiously. *I can't just leave them here, they could still be in danger . . . and none of them know how to fight . . . .*  
  
"Magic Knight of Fire." The mashin interrupted her thoughts. "There is little time if thou wouldst go to the aid of thy fellow Knights."  
  
"My - WHAT?" Hikaru exclaimed in disbelief. "You mean these things . . . ." she gestured to the bodies scattered on the pavement with her free hand. "There's more of them?" Her eyes widened. "And they're after Fuu? And Umi?" She shook Jo loose and strode quickly to her sword, still embedded in the thick skull of the burned beast. She grasped the hilt and yanked it out with a sharp *jerk,* then spun back to Rayearth with a determined, frightened face. "Let's go, Rayearth." 


	4. fuu's battle

(A/N: My battle scenes are very graphic, so if you're squeamish about such things, you probably shouldn't be reading this ^^;;)  
  
Fuu stood thunderstruck amidst a gathering crowd of curious onlookers and attempted to make sense of the miracle which had just occurred. *My armor . . . my powers.* She summoned her gigantic claymore almost unconsciously to her hands, the familiar sensation of nerve-tingling magic flowing swiftly through her veins. *My sword.*  
  
The circled masses of people surrounding the Magic Knight gasped almost in unison at this extraordinary display.  
  
"Holy - look at the size of that sword!"  
  
"What is that girl?"  
  
"Halloween was a week ago, why is she dressed in that silly costume?"  
  
The whispers and speculations turned rapidly to shrieks of terror when a seven-foot greatsword sheared violently blade-first into the pavement with a startling *CLANG!* a mere foot from the armored woman. There was a rumbling thunder of stampeding feet as the spectators suddenly decided that a front row seat was not desirable at all events . . . .  
  
Fuu's gaze jerked up to the window from which she had just plummeted, where the three giant beasts were glowering at her in intense hatred, teeth bared in rage. Her brow lowered ominously over heated green eyes as she stared back at the creatures which had invaded her home. She glanced once more at the large sword in her hands, the silent blade at once beautiful and deadly. *I do not know how this happened, but I am not going to question such good fortune.* Ignoring the enemy's weapon quivering in the ground beside her, she lifted her left hand above her head, yelling confidently, "Imashime no KAZEEEEE!!!!!" Gusts of wind instantly swirled up and circled 'round her at the command, sending her blonde hair whipping wildly about her face, then swiftly blew into the sixth-floor window. The winds eagerly latched onto one of the three brutes, binding the beast's limbs as effectively as would the unyielding grip of steel bands. The demonic being howled in anger and fear, its arms locked to its sides, unable to move.  
  
The other two monsters wasted no time attempting to aid their comrade and forcefully smashed through the brick outer wall of the apartment building, ignoring the debris raining down onto the newly-emptied street. They fell rapidly to the ground, landing in crouched readiness several meters in front of Fuu without any visible damage from the drop. Fuu moved back a few small steps and raised her sword to a one-handed guard position while holding the trussed enemy high above her with her wind magic. The brutes grinned malevolently at her apparent vulnerability and advanced towards their prey, swords ready to strike; but the green Knight smirked humorlessly and yanked her hand back, forcing the constricted beast to hover in the open air on its tether. The monsters glanced up in unison, eyes widening at the sight of their partner hanging motionless six stories above the ground. Fuu then mercilessly released her spell, sending the creature tumbling down onto the pavement behind its comrades, where it laid stunned, dazed sulfurous eyes staring vacantly.  
  
The Wind Knight did not waste time congratulating herself. The beasts still standing dismissed their cohort with a glance as weak and useless then charged at her together, roaring a strident challenge. She raised her elegant hand once more and cried, "Midori no Zenpuu!!!" A cyclone of green- glowing winds rose at her demand and engulfed the suddenly panicked monster to her left, drawing it into a mighty vortex. The other giant flinched back from the display of power, raising its hand in front of its grimacing face protectively. The fierce tornado imprisoned its victim for several moments before slamming it onto the ground in a final rush of mystic energy, flinging white powder and chunks of rock into the air as the magical force created a jagged hole in the sidewalk cement using the beast's twisted body.  
  
Fuu now gripped the sword hilt with both hands, confident in her ability to defeat a single enemy in combat. "YAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" she screamed as she charged forward, claymore glinting sharply in the bright city streetlights. The gargantuan snarled at the woman rushing it and swung its own weapon in a heavy arc. *CLANG!* Fuu easily countered the clumsy blow, her magical sword swallowing most of the force. She dealt her own offensive strike on the rebound, swinging around the mammoth beast's roughly-forged weapon and deftly stepping inside its long reach, close to the furious heat of its massive, heaving chest. Once inside the pocket of its over-long arms, she effortlessly sliced her claymore into the creature's unprotected side, sending a spurting shower of dark, viscous blood onto the pale concrete. The giant raised its huge maw to the sky and bellowed its agony to the indifferent stars as the sword sliced cruelly through its skin. It dropped its sword in a blind rage, preparing to gather Fuu into a deadly embrace against its damaged torso. The alert woman would have none of that, however, and speedily took advantage of the Escudo-derived powers of her sword by thrusting her weight into the cut she had initiated until the edge kissed open air on the creature's opposite side. The demonic beast's eyes swiftly went blank as its top half slid wetly off its pelvic girdle. Fuu jumped back before the legs - left standing like tree stumps after the ax has hewn - could tip forward and fall onto her.  
  
The victorious woman turned her back quickly on the mangled wreck she had created, heaving in air desperately and wiping away the sweat beads forming on her forehead. *I do not remember battle being so . . . ghastly,* she thought, glancing swiftly at the inert bodies of her other opponents, trying to dismiss the images of the black gore and dismembered body . . . . She swallowed. *I will NOT be sick . . . Magic Knights do not get sick . . . .*  
  
She stanchly choked back the impending nausea and lifted her sword once more, approaching the remaining monstrous forms with determination, a lone soldier in a vacant, frigid battlefield. *I must be sure they are truly dead,* she thought, tucking her squeamishness behind a solid wall of her courage. The first creature she drew near to was deathly still, and did not appear to be breathing. Nonetheless, Fuu poked it once or twice with the point of her sword, raising small clouds of powdered cement off the brute's cold skin, until she was satisfied that it would move no more. She left the corpse where it laid and began walking to the last strange beast, when a rush of strong winds abruptly came from behind her, throwing her uncontrollably forward several steps. She frantically skidded her feet against the pavement until they planted firmly against a convenient curb, then concentrated solely on trying to keep her balance in the windstorm.  
  
*POOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!* An explosion blasted nearby, sounding simultaneously with the termination of the hurricane-like gales. The noise nearly deafened Fuu, but she resolutely whipped her head around and returned to her defensive posture on slightly shaky legs, searching grimly for the arrival of new foes. Her eyes widened when they unexpectedly landed on the metallic sheen of a colossal being, kneeling no more than fifty meters away . . . .  
  
"Hail, Magic Knight of Wind," Windom intoned dispassionately in his deeply echoing voice, golden eyes flashing as the leviathan gazed upon its chosen Knight. "I summon thee now to thy duty. Cephiro is in need." Fuu opened her mouth in blank astonishment, unable to respond in the face of the evening's newest wonder. She was allowed no time to salvage her scattered thoughts, however, for well before she had overcome her amazement, a blinding flare of light suddenly blazed in close proximity to the kneeling mashin. Fuu glanced away automatically in an instinctive desire to protect her eyes from the intense radiance. "Windom!" she cried helplessly, unable to interpret this latest phenomenon. When the brightness she could detect even behind her closed eyelids darkened, she looked back at the mashin hastily, then gaped to see not just one, but two huge mechas in the empty street, kneeling impassively side by side.  
  
The new mashin was a beautiful, fiery red that reflected the street lights aggressively, the white and gold elements in its armor shimmering in breathtaking complement. It could be none other than the mystic mecha Fuu knew as Rayearth. She held her breath, hoping against hope . . . . *Hikaru . . . is it . . . are you . . . .* A small distortion of light appeared beside the newly arrived mashin as she watched, and Hikaru, costumed as the Magic Knight of Fire, materialized beside her robotic counterpart.  
  
"HIKARU!!" Fuu cried in relief, dropping her sword to the pavement and sprinting to her friend. The red-haired Knight's eyes lit with joy and she rushed into Fuu's embrace with arms wide open. The two women squeezed each other closely, not speaking, drawing strength from each other's nearness. Identical tears flowed down their faces as they felt the intensity of the reunion, their powers meeting in the aethyr and interweaving subtly. Hikaru was the first to pull back, although she would not loose her grip on her friend's arms. She quickly looked the Wind Knight over, alert for any sign of wounds. "You're OK?" Hikaru asked, meeting Fuu's eyes anxiously. Fuu nodded, glancing past her once more at the silent leviathans waiting patiently together. "Hikaru, what's happening?" she asked, a worried, tense expression adorning her face. "Were you attacked as well? By those - those monsters?"  
  
Hikaru nodded soberly and replied, "Yeah, they attacked just after the gig. My friends - they were right in the middle of everything." She closed her eyes in remembered pain. "If my powers hadn't come to me . . . ." she left the sentence unfinished, the unspoken words abundantly clear. Fuu shook her head and lifted her left hand, gazing at the magical emerald inset on the back of the glove in awe. "How did this happen?" she wondered aloud. Hikaru seized the raised hand, immediately regaining her friend's attention. "We have to get to Umi," she said urgently. "We weren't the only ones attacked." Fuu's eyes widened in frightened realization of the danger the final member of their trio was undoubtedly in. "Explanations will obviously have to wait, then," Fuu said, and ran to retrieve her sword.  
  
Just as she was grasping the green-lacquered hilt, she heard a weak snarl coming from the shadows close by. She glanced up quickly to witness the monster she had ensnared early in the battle with her magic stiffly crawling from its prone position. It appeared to have broken its left leg when she'd allowed it to fall, but it doggedly hobbled towards its target, growling and baring its natural weapons as it shuffled closer. Fuu sighed sadly; she loathed the idea of slaughtering a helpless being, enemy or not. However, she realized that the evil beast would most likely wreak havoc throughout the city of Tokyo if she left it be. So she lifted her sword once more and stepped forward, ready to carry out her self-imposed responsibility . . . .  
  
"Hono no YAAAAAAAA!"  
  
Fuu's ears picked up the commanding cry just as a hotly-flaming arrow streaked past her and slammed unerringly into a malevolent, sulfurous eye, executing the crippled creature instantaneously. The Magic Knight of Wind glanced over her shoulder to see Hikaru standing with hands outstretched, and gently smiled in thanks for her understanding. "Let's get to Umi," Fuu said firmly, returning her sword to its interdimensional resting place.  
  
The two girls' forms dissipated as they merged with their mashins, and the kneeling mechas then disappeared in a bright blaze of light and thunderous sound.  
  
Unbeknownst to the Magic Knights, a video camera's blinking red light flashed steadily in a nearby protected alleyway as it had through the entire battle, taping the extraordinary women as they vanished with their enormous robot-like beings . . . .  
  
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Thursday, November 6: Tokyo, 6 PM  
  
". . . and in latest news, the United Nations is still debating the United States' request to declare war on Iraq . . . ."  
  
Kuu Hououji yawned tiredly as she half-watched the news on her parents' television, struggling to remain alert after a long day of research, her exhausted brain spinning with codons and anticodons. As one of the head geneticists on the National Police Agency's payroll, it wasn't often she could steal a long weekend to spend with her parents in Tokyo. However, she had been adamant about coming home in time to wish her mother a happy birthday in person, gladly trading a few days-off with her contemporaries to make it possible.  
  
*When Fuu gets here tomorrow, we'll have to make sure those reservations we made are still set,* she thought absently, feeling a contented warmth at the idea of seeing her little sister once more. They had kept in fairly close contact over the past few years via phone and computer, but it had been months since they had been able to get time off concurrently. She smiled a little smugly to herself as she reviewed her latest plan to introduce Fuu to a single friend of hers; a pleasant, intellectual man she had been working with for several years. *Little sister, you're going to develop a nice relationship with a male of the species if I have to spend the rest of my life arranging it!*  
  
Satisfied with her scheme, Kuu returned her wandering attention to the television, frowning slightly as her mind settled on the worldwide terrorist hunt that had been conducted for a bit over a year now. *What is up with those religious fanatics? Why can't they just let people believe what they believe? Hey - what's this?* her thoughts were diverted from global hostilities with the sudden arrival of a fresh news update.  
  
"This just in," the newscaster said automatically as she was handed a set of papers from off screen. She paused momentarily, eyes widening and jaw dropping slightly in shock. Then recalling she was still on a live broadcast, she reddened faintly and hastily reported, "Uh, apparently there was . . . somewhat of a miraculous event here in Tokyo; we have an amateur video clip of a girl who had fallen from a high window in an apartment complex . . . hovering in the air before she hit the ground . . . then proceeding to procure a sword and battle what appear to be a trio of . . . demons?" Her voice rose in disbelief before she finished shakily, "Natsu, roll the clip, please."  
  
Kuu kept watching, fascinated, as the story unfolded. The video appeared on the screen, and through the shaky film she could see the silhouette of a body trapped in a whirligig of verdant winds, indeed appearing to hover a meter or two above the sidewalk. Then the winds subsided, and the figure was deposited gently onto its feet. The video panned closer to the small person's face . . . and Kuu inhaled sharply, jumping unconsciously to her feet. "FUU??!!" she yelped in panicked denial.  
  
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	5. Umi's battle

Umi froze in place, her fingers as yet outstretched across her secretary's tidy wooden desk towards the phone. *My armor . . . what's going on here?* she thought in bewilderment. She lowered her hand slowly, gazing with wonder at her azure accoutrements, then shook herself out of the funk with mild exasperation and rapidly pondered her new options. *Wake up, Umi. You still have a bit of a problem, here. Hm. I suppose I could call security . . . not that they'd be here in time to save me or anything.* She shrugged one shoulder and sniffed in derision. "Like they'd believe me anyway," Umi berated herself, leaning against the desk and drumming her fingers. "Excuse me Security-san, but there are three large monsters with horns and big swords in my office that just flew in through the windows," she said mockingly to the empty room. "Yes, that's right, I am on the twenty-fifth floor. Oh, and I've already taken care of one of them with my sword, and it seems I have this magical armor now . . . ." Umi rolled her eyes. *Yeah, right. Well, I suppose I really have no choice . . . .* The advertising exec's face lit in feral joy and she clenched a gloved fist with a thrill of anticipation. *Besides, how can I pass up a chance like this?*  
  
"RAAAARRRRRRLLLL!!" A harsh bellow of anger sounded behind Umi as she ruminated. The demonic invaders in her office stumbled maladroitly through the remains of the door she had demolished in her previous unorthodox and hasty exit. The fierce elation in Umi's sapphire eyes burned with a cold fire as she turned casually to meet the oncoming threat. She smirked derisively, flipping her cerulean hair over her shoulder, and called her ostensibly delicate longsword to her capable hand, disdainfully saluting the beasts before sitting comfortably in a ready stance. "You guys want to fight, eh?" she drawled, her voice thick with sardonic sarcasm. The brutes snarled, unable to understand the woman's words but cautious in the face of their partner's death and the strange magic she was wielding. They lifted their greatswords threateningly and advanced, instinctively attempting to flank their prey.  
  
"Hah!" Umi barked, and to the creatures' surprise, she leaped backwards gracefully, putting more distance between herself and her brutish enemies. "You know," she began conversationally (although she never quite lost that smirk . . . .), "I almost forgot that I have magical powers in this setup." She raised her right hand and spread her fingers dramatically. "I wonder if this still works?  
  
"Mizu no RYUUUUUUUU!!!" she shouted, an immense rush of power immediately surging through her body like water flowing through a conduit, filling her with a sense of exultation. A gigantic, aqueous dragon obediently appeared before her and grinned with malevolent intent upon its mistresses' enemies, its eyes glowing with the frigid cobalt blue of the ocean depths. The monsters screamed in despair, dropping their swords in panic as the tsunami- like power of the water dragon hit them, sweeping them helplessly back into the office. Umi laughed merrily and followed, stumbling slightly as her muscles trembled. *Wow. Magic takes more out of me than it used to,* she thought, straightening her limbs with a will and continuing on her way into the office.  
  
She stepped cautiously into the room, a sliver of sense penetrating her heady rush of power. *These things are still extremely capable of tearing you limb from limb if they catch you, stupid!* she reminded herself, shuddering faintly at the thought. She raised her sword defensively and crossed the soaked gray carpet, eyes meticulously scanning the dark room. The broken windows allowed a crisp autumn breeze to enter, which playfully whipped her long hair wildly about her head as she slipped past the lifeless beast she had dispatched earlier. It was a huge shadowy lump in the dim light, lying stiff and bloody, propped against her drenched desk. *There's one.* Umi's brow creased in puzzlement; where could the other beasts be? There was no sign of life in the still, murky room, save for the lively sounds of a busy city carried up by the dynamic wind.  
  
She heard a faint groan and snapped her blade up, crouching quickly, ready for action. *Where . . . .* She stalked warily to the windows and peeked over the edge, conscious of the painful death that awaited her if she fell, and gasped in surprise when she espied one of the creatures hanging desperately by one hand. It growled angrily at the sight of her face and attempted to swipe at her with its free hand. She easily avoided the blow by stepping back and moving slightly to the side, so she could see it but was out of its reach. "So, ugly, where's your friend?" she asked, quickly scanning the limited area she could discern below her for any sign of the monster. The beast hanging precipitously on the edge of the building bared its teeth and scrabbled with its free hand on the ledge, though it was unable to find any grips on the smooth, fashionable carpet. "Don't know, huh?" Umi asked absently, raising her sword. "Well, goodbye." She chopped her sword down smartly onto the creature's fingers, severing them without difficulty and sending the malevolent brute flying helplessly to the ground hundreds of feet below. She turned away so as not to view the grisly mess she had made, and paced along the edge of her demolished office, looking eagerly for signs of the missing giant.  
  
*Uh oh,* she thought when she reached the opposite wall with no evidence of the other creature's whereabouts. *I have to find that thing before it causes some damage.* She began moving decisively towards the ragged hole in the wall that was the only other exit from the room, then paused in dismay, remembering her armor. "I can't be seen like this!" she wailed. "No one will ever take me seriously on a business deal again!"  
  
*FOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!* A shockwave of blasting winds suddenly burst through the shattered windows, picking Umi up and throwing her brutally against the opposite wall. She was unable to prevent her head from cracking nastily against the barrier, and her sword fell out of her limp hand as she succumbed to the beckoning darkness.  
  
Outside, the busy citizens of Tokyo, most recovering quickly from the sudden strong gusts, were astonished to behold the massive blue-chrome mashin now standing stoically in between several of the tall buildings in the area. At its feet, a broken, bloody form lay, and those closest to the gargantuan mecha would later swear to their friends that the body did not look close to being human. The mashin, ignoring the astonished populace scurrying on the streets like so many ants, lifted its great arm and reached into a broken window several floors above its head.  
  
Seles grasped its Magic Knight carefully in its huge hand and drew her out of the building, shielding her from the jagged shards of glass remaining in the window. With a thought it returned the Knight's weapon to its interdimensional resting place, where it stood ready to be summoned if Umi were ever again in need - and Seles knew that need would come sooner than its Knight was aware. The giant mecha turned its head slightly as explosive winds once again filled the streets and Seles' brothers, Rayearth and Windom, appeared beside the Water Mashin. The newly-arrived Magic Knights swiftly appeared on their respective mashins' shoulders.  
  
Hikaru called to Seles urgently, "Seles! Where is Umi? Is she alright?"  
  
Seles remained silent, but brought his hand to viewing distance of the new arrivals and opened it, allowing them to see the figure lying comatose therein. "Umi!!" The two girls gasped together. Hikaru whipped her gaze to the blue mashin, anger and concern visible in her expressive eyes. "Is she alright? What happened to the creatures?" she asked swiftly. Seles gazed at her impassively for a moment, then answered, "The Magic Knight of Water was injured upon my coming. The winds which brought me to her caused her current state of unconsciousness. Two of the beasts of the Enemy were dispatched ere mine own arrival; I know not of the third." Seles fell silent.  
  
"Uh oh," Hikaru murmured, glancing at Fuu. The Magic Knight of Wind gazed back at her with her brow creased in concern; both for Umi and in knowledge of the destruction the monster could cause while running about Tokyo. "Perhaps we should split up and search . . . ." Fuu began, when suddenly she was cut off by a monstrous bellow of rage. The girls discerned the source of the roar quickly and looked up in tandem to see the missing beast flying downwards from its hiding place on the rooftop towards Seles' open hand, where Umi lay helpless and unaware. Fuu swiftly called upon her wind magic, "Imashime no Kaze!" The verdant winds flew up at her command and bound the plummeting brute well above her sister-in-arms. Hikaru immediately summoned her fire magic for the third time that night, "Hono no YAA!" The flaming arrow sped across the still night air and struck the beast in the throat, cutting off its air supply. As Fuu dropped the burning corpse in disgust, allowing it to drop to the pavement far below, Hikaru clamped her hands hastily onto Rayearth's metallic shoulder, unable to stand any longer as the magic took its toll on her exhausted body.  
  
"Hikaru!" Fuu cried in anxiously, appearing ready to leap to her friend's side. "What's wrong?"  
  
Hikaru wearily raised a hand to halt Fuu's impetuous hurdle and rasped, "It's nothing, Fuu. I think - I think I may have just overdone it a little." She drew in a deep breath. "I'll be fine," she finished firmly. The Wind Knight nodded a little doubtfully, but let Hikaru be, since the night's danger seemed to be thoroughly dealt with. Hikaru looked up into the face of her mashin and asked tiredly, "What now, Rayearth? What does Cephiro need us for so badly, and what were these things that attacked us?"  
  
Rayearth gazed at his counterpart and replied, "All will be answered, Magic Knight of Fire. Guru Clef, who bestowed upon us the power to retrieve our Knights in Cephiro's time of need, will better be able to satisfy thy queries." Hikaru sighed in exasperation and muttered to Fuu, "Just once, I'd like a straight answer out of him . . . ." Fuu smiled slightly, covering her mouth with her hand. The Magic Knight of Wind then asked her own mashin, "Do we go to Cephiro now, Windom?" The Wind mashin nodded its huge head in affirmation. "Do link with me, Magic Knight of Wind. Thy journey will be safer thus." Hikaru and Fuu smiled at each other in farewell, then concentrated momentarily, their forms dissipating slowly and joining with their respective mashins. Seles looked down at the Knight he held in his hand. "Thou must forgive me for mine impertinence, Magic Knight of Water." Umi's still form disappeared from the mashin's palm and joined with her mecha, safely ensconced within its massive armored body. Without further ado, the three mashins triggered the magic imparted to them by Clef and vanished in a fury of tornado-like winds and explosive bursts of light, leaving behind a slightly hysterical, bemused populace . . . .  
  
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Ferio paced pensively through the white-marbled palace corridors, his smudged white cloak swirling behind him with each step like a leashed gust of air. He had not yet changed out of his bloody, grimy battle armor, though the combat was hours ended. The King had not bothered to bathe upon returning from the field of battle; the heavy metal plate on his chest, fitted perfectly by the Master Smith, attempted to emit its customary brilliant shine through the dents and gore marring its surface as he walked, but to no avail. He had allowed a squire to remove the matching vambraces and greaves protecting his arms and legs, but he needed time alone to plan with the skirmish fresh in his mind, and the huge sheet of metal shielding his broad chest just took too much time to remove properly. He had taken time to slip his boots off before entering his palace only because he was unwilling to track the lifeblood of friends and enemies accumulated in the hours of battle throughout his home. Instead, he wore soft leather half-boots designed for him personally by . . . some admirer or another. He snorted softly and clasped his hands behind his back, gratefully setting aside the pictures of the dead and dying that played incessantly in his mind, reminiscing almost an entire decade into his past . . . .  
  
"Your Majesty!"  
  
"Good day, Your Highness."  
  
"How are you today, Highness? Would you care to stroll the gardens with me?"  
  
The sweet, coquettish voices surrounded him, invading his privacy, following him throughout the daily routines of running a peaceful, productive Kingdom. He couldn't keep all their names straight; they had seemed to come at him in droves of five or more at a time so as to make sure their 'competition' wouldn't score more time with him than they had managed themselves. His eyes had been ever filled with silk pastels and delicate lace; his nostrils with the seductive scents of predatory women seeking the most effective route to his bed . . . and from there to the throne.  
  
However, that torment was thankfully over, what with the War. Ferio sighed. He never seemed able to disregard thoughts of the War for more than a few seconds.  
  
The palace had swiftly been emptied of all persons but those with skills to contribute to Cephiro's effort against the enemy who had attacked so suddenly . . . killing without warning. Ferio's fist clenched at his side as he recalled those first few days, so many years ago, the days of panic and bloodshed, when the people had nowhere to go, the tentative monarchy still in its infancy after the abolition of the Pillar system. The newest allies of Cephiro had recently departed, unknowingly leaving Cephiro unaided in its struggle against the unknown monsters that attacked without notice and without mercy, beasts which were fiercer and harder to defeat than anything Ferio had ever fought. They had the uncanny ability to appear suddenly in one place and disappear just as easily, only to appear once more a hundred kilos away, out of the reach of Ferio's armies. Even after ten years of bloody, desperate battle, little was known about the creatures. His spies were unable to penetrate any defenses, and most never returned.  
  
Ferio yawned and stretched his leather-clad arms over his head, strolling to a nearby open window and gazing out at the paradoxically beautiful, green landscape bathed in starlit twilight. He was tired. Tired of the fighting, the uncertainty of victory, the loss of precious life. His head lowered almost unwillingly into large, scarred hands. He closed his eyes and tried, just for a moment, to remember what it was like to be at peace. What it was like to ride circuit of his Kingdom and see the happiness and prosperity of his people spread throughout the land. What it was like to have time to himself to read a book, or practice his swordwork merely for fun and exercise. What it had been like to gaze upon Fuu with the knowledge that she was his alone . . . .  
  
"Gah!" he berated himself, fingers clenching in dirty locks of verdant hair that had not seen barber's shears in too long. His amber eyes squeezed tighter as he attempted to hold in the tears he knew were coming at his foolish thought. *You always knew she was going to have to go back to her world,* he reminded himself, as he had done uncounted times in the past ten years, as he ruled his kingdom and fought the War lonely and unhappy, trying to put his woman's happiness over his own. *She's forgotten all about you, idiot. She probably got married years ago and has a houseful of kids now. And what if she had stayed? Would you have her suffer through all the blood and loss with you, probably get herself killed because her nobility would not allow her to remain in safely, just because you're too stubborn to let go?* Tears leaked down his cheeks despite his best efforts; he was just too exhausted from the recent skirmish to hold them back.  
  
*Besides, she would probably run screaming if she saw you now,* he thought bitterly, gazing unseeing out the window and recalling the face he now wore, the result of nearly a decade of fighting hopeless battles with impossible odds. Several scars had joined the one lying across the bridge of his nose. One ran in a white line down his cheek from the corner of his left eye to his jawline - the consequence of a greatsword coming too close to dodge. A second stretched from the middle of his forehead and up through his hair, creating a rakish white lock of hair that often hung irritatingly in his eyes. There were several other, smaller ones, each with a history, violent reminders that he was only human. *That's not even counting the ones people can't see,* he thought morosely, absently tracing the scar that ran down his cheek with a calloused finger.  
  
He sighed and squared his shoulders, unconsciously checking the corridor for onlookers as he cleared his throat and wiped the tears from his unshaven face. *I suppose I should check on Clef, see if he's ready to come out of his chambers and actually help us with this War.* His thoughts left the far past and ran swiftly into the present, musing on Clef's insistence that he be uninterrupted for the past few days. He recalled the scene they'd had in the War Room only three days ago . . . .  
  
"You want what?!" Ferio asked in astonishment, forgetting his generals and the plan he had been displaying over the 3D map on the projection table in his shock. The King gaped at the little Guru and awaited his reply, almost sure that he had misheard the request. Clef gazed back at him serenely and replied, "I must be left alone for the next few days while I am working in my rooms. I cannot have any disturbances. The magic I will be controlling is very delicate and dangerous; any interruption may prove fatal to myself, the intruder, and perhaps everyone in the palace." Ferio just stared silently, unable to comprehend Clef's need to do this magic stunt now. "Clef, if you haven't noticed, we're in a bit of a war, here," The King remarked dryly. "I need you."  
  
Clef bowed slightly with respect, but remained firm. "I am aware of that, Your Majesty. However, I believe my spell may bring about our victory in this Endless War." The King of Cephiro sighed and rolled his golden eyes, a hint of the brash, cheerful young man he had been shining through the tough shell he had forcibly built for a moment. "Fine, Clef. You may have your three days. I just don't know how we're going to get anything done without you around." Clef merely smiled wisely and said, "I suppose you're going to have to think of something, Your Majesty," and tapped his omnipresent staff on the marble floor. There was a poof of lavender smoke, and he was gone. Ferio shook his head ruefully and returned to the matter at hand, speaking once more to his patiently waiting generals. "I apologize for the intrusion, ladies and gentlemen." He pointed once more to the Khaal Mountains several hundred miles south of the palace, "Here is where we can score a real victory over the enemy . . . if we just place the dragon riders here . . . ."  
  
Ferio tapped diffidently on the ornately crafted white door. If the Guru was ready to come out, all well and good, but Ferio didn't want to be the one caught in any magical mishaps if he wasn't! There was no answer for several minutes, and just when Ferio was getting ready to move on, the door opened a crack. Clef's lavender eye peeked out, seeking the intruder, then upon seeing his King, he reached out a small arm and snagged Ferio, pulling him into the room. "Hey," Ferio protested at this abrupt action, though he did not struggle as he entered. "What's going on, Clef?" He looked down at the little Guru, and gasped. The vibrant man, so fit and vital only days before, now seemed a living, breathing skeleton. His flesh had wasted away, leaving only skin, muscle, and bone, anything unnecessary burned away, apparently used as the energy source for the mysterious magic that the Guru been conducting. Ferio swiftly caught Clef in his battle-hardened arms as the magician swooned, overcome by the immense efforts he had put into the magic. "Bed for you, little man," Ferio said, easily scooping the weak Guru into his arms and striding though the well-appointed reception area to the bedroom on the right. The king entered and switched on the light, then set Clef down gently on the bed. Clef gazed blearily at Ferio and said faintly, "T-thank you, Your Majesty . . . it is done." Ferio was in the process of removing his wizard's boots and glanced up questioningly at the ambiguous statement. "Hm?"  
  
Clef lay back at the King's gentle insistence, closing his eyes as soon as his head hit the pillow. "They are coming," was all he said before falling asleep. Ferio snorted and covered the exhausted mage with a thick blanket before switching off the lights and quietly removing himself from the chamber. "They're coming," he repeated quietly to himself as he shut the door with a quiet *click.* "Who in Cephiro could that crazy Guru be talking about?" He shrugged helplessly and stroll down the shining white hallway, turning up the stairs at the end and rushing up them two at a time, surprisingly agile despite his weariness and the weight of the armor that had yet to be removed. He strode down the short passage at the top of the stairs to the immense doors at the end, the only relief in the stone walls. He nodded to the saluting guards and entered as Chauna opened the door, sighing with relief as he stepped into his chambers.  
  
Ferio paused and gazed impassively about the room, feeling almost as though these rooms, the rooms of a warrior King, belonged to someone else. They had changed drastically since the War had begun. Gone were the innocuous books of learning, the cheery paintings which had decorated the wooden walls, the musical instruments he had been learning to play. They had been replaced by tactical maps, multitudinous weaponry, and books by famous strategists from several different worlds. "And so, war makes soldiers of the mightiest," he said reflectively. He stood for several more minutes, then turned and opened the outer door once again, beckoning Rolf within easy speaking distance. "Yes, m'Lord?" Rolf asked diffidently, glaive held at the ready. "Go and fetch my squire, please," Ferio ordered. "I need to get out of this armor." Rolf saluted sharply and strode quickly to the stairs. Ferio nodded politely to Chauna and shut the door. He staggered to an overstuffed chair that was upholstered in one of his favorite shades of green and tossed the various weapons and pieces of armor that were resting therein onto the richly carpeted floor. The King sat with relief, leaning back and closing his eyes. *I hadn't realized I was so tired . . . .* he thought absently before he felt sleep sneak up from behind and ambush him. 


	6. the arrival

Chapter 6  
  
Summer night surrounded the small village with a thick, almost palpable darkness. Watchers on the weathered palisade wall squinted past the minimal circle of light offered by the torches burning silently at set intervals, attempting to see what moved beyond their poor human vision. Men and women alike silently strode the catwalk set just below the spikes on the top end of the wall, dressed in worn leather armor and carrying spears, bows, or slingshots. Not many in the town could afford fancier weapons, such as swords and halberd lances, even if they knew how to use them. A few were lucky enough to sport a steel plate greave on an arm or leg, providing a bit of extra protection against the evil that stalked in the darkness throughout Cephiro.  
  
Ten long years of hardship, of bloody battle and loss, had whetted the townspeople of Harowin into sharpened steel, far from the frightened farmers and merchants dependent on the King's Guardians' protection in the long ago past. The weak-willed, the sickly, the cowards - they had all been taken long ago. Strength was the byword in the streets of the village, strength and a desperate conviction that King Ferio would find a way to push back the unholy monstrosities plaguing his subjects.  
  
Captain Kovax planted his well-used spear on the ground near his feet and cast a weary, jaded gaze over his Night Watch, the guards that had volunteered to keep their people safe during the most dangerous hours of the deep dark. The monsters tended to attack between midnight and dawn, creeping along the edge of the light until an unknown signal prompted them to begin the assault. So far, the night was empty of the hideous beasts, busy with the sounds of animal life. The music of crickets and overhead bats filled the Captain's ears with the soft illusion of peace and tranquility. He snorted at the thought. Peace was an idea he had almost forgotten. An idea better forgotten, lest he lose the fighting edge that had kept him alive through countless skirmishes. Forgotten pain, memory of close loss, stung his eyes, until he could battle the memories back behind the wall he had built. His ungloved, calloused hand tightened on his oaken spear shaft. This, he knew, was reality. This was life.  
  
Kovax's muddy brown eyes focused on his petite First Lieutenant, Ro Jan Li. She was striding the walls with a confident, measured pace, her pure-black hair tucked neatly under a thick leather cap instead of swinging along in its usual waist-long ponytail. A sling was tied loosely to her belt, alongside the pouch full of smooth river stones the daily foraging groups collected during their trips into the surrounding forest. Her hands gripped a horn-inlaid bow nocked with a white-fletched shaft. She walked among the evenly-spaced members of the Watch, making sure all were awake and aware, for an inattentive guard could mean the loss of precious time during an attack. Ro caught her Captain's gaze and nodded acknowledgement of the silent summons, lengthening her stride slightly until she was at his side. Her midnight-blue eyes, filled with the same combination of strength, weariness, despair, and stubbornness that all the villagers seemed to possess, met Kovax's tired stare as she asked in her soft voice, "Yes, Captain?"  
  
Kovax broke eye contact to look once more into the pervading blackness. He hated the night. "How's Norl doing? Can they save his leg?" His voice was a deep monotone, almost nonchalant in its attitude. Norl, a thin, wiry farmer well past middle age, had met with an accident earlier in the afternoon. He had been working with the large group of planters and guards that traveled every day to the fields scattered throughout the nearby Wurai Forest. The villagers had quickly learned that any fields planted in the open meadows were automatic targets of destruction, so they plowed the random clearings within the shielding trees. It was almost a relief to Kovax that the injury had come from planting, from the creation of new life. Too much blood had already been spilled serving only life's destruction.  
  
Ro Jen Li nodded solemnly, mirroring her Captain's suspicious glance into the dark before answering. "Aye, the emergency rider got him back in time for the witch to do her work." She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. "We still need more horses, though. We were lucky Norl was the only one hurt."  
  
Captain Kovax sighed and scrubbed a hand through his tattered chocolate- brown beard. He'd known she was going to bring this up again. "Ro, there's nothing I can do. We need most of the horses we have for the Circuit riders." The Circuit was a dangerous ride with a high mortality factor, consisting of a pair of riders that traveled from town to town within a fifty-mile radius of Harowin, delivering and receiving news and supplies. The riders came in roughly once every other week, with reports of villagers like themselves protecting their own. They shared resources and tactics, making sure all were as safe as possible in these times.  
  
The First Lieutenant nodded as though she agreed, but Kovax knew better. She would worry on this quandary like a dog on a bone until she found a way to procure more riding animals for the farmers and foragers. The Night Watch Captain smirked humorlessly. He wished her luck, but he refused to make it his problem, when there were so many others that needed his attention. He glanced above his head at the twinkling stars and noted their relative positions in the black sky. "Halfway," he grunted. Only three more hours until the light of a new dawn shimmered over the horizon, signifying a higher degree of safety than could be found in the night hours. Though no one was ever completely safe; not anymore.  
  
"I'll see about replacing the torches," Ro stated before slipping down the catwalk. He watched her delegate the hourly check of their only light source for a moment, then returned his attention outside the wall. His sharp eyes swept the perimeter of the light circle, seeking signs of the enemy. The air had changed, somehow . . . and there was that feeling deep in his gut that seemed to appear before . . . . He drew in a sharp breath. Was that -  
  
"Ro!" he barked. "Here they come!" He pointed his steel-tipped spear into the night, causing an outcry among the Watch as they scrambled to their appointed stations. Those with bows in hand immediately ran to the Captain's side and began firing arrows at any perceived movement. Orenia flew like a blonde eagle to the bronze gong that hung on one of the palisade's corners and started bashing the metal disk with the hammer, fear and adrenaline pumping through her veins as she woke the slumbering townspeople. Others among the Watch guarded the adjacent walls in case the attack on the one side was a feint, awaiting the newly-roused villagers that would shortly fill in their ranks.  
  
Kovax strode the walkway behind his archers with an outward calm, maintaining an air of easy confidence even as the first of the horrid beasts made their way from the shadows into the flickering light. "Jain! Rannin!" he snapped abruptly. Two of his Watch standing ready on the wall with spear and sling immediately ran to the Captain's side, awaiting orders. "Get to Nim's place and make sure he brings all the arrows he's finished." The slender spearwoman and the large, beefy farm lad nodded and jogged to the nearest ladder without question. Kovax glanced at the corners of the catwalk to make sure that there was a pair of his people manning the barrels of water maintained against fire.  
  
Each wall had its own sub-Lieutenant in command. Ro had charge of the archers, and Kovax himself oversaw the operation, solving inevitable problems and redirecting fighters as was necessary. The years of battle and blood had created this scheme, crafted through trial and error. And when error was fatal, the trial must needs be quick. Kovax grunted in satisfaction as he watched the walls fill with people. They knew that minutes made a difference in battle through hard experience, and there was not one of them who did not sleep with weapon and armor close to hand. He returned to pacing stiffly behind the archers, surveying the oncoming Gorgani. They were mammoth beasts, large with fat and muscle encased by sickly-looking yellow-green skin and coarse black hair. Their evil eyes picked up the light with an evil, sulfurous glow. The Captain shuddered slightly at the vicious joy those eyes emitted. He would never understand the monsters' need for mayhem and destruction, but this knowledge was not necessary to kill them.  
  
The beasts bellowed loudly in pain as arrows sizzled through the air, many embedding themselves into an oncoming brute. The other walls were free of any attack, and this in itself made Kovax suspicious. It was almost laughably simple to keep the assaulted wall empty for a dozen yards; huge carcasses were piling up just within the circle of light. He watched as the monsters charged and died. There was something mechanical about their attack that did not sit well with him - they usually either gave up at this point, if they didn't feel they had enough to take the walls, or sent in reinforcements. But as far as he could see, there was just a never-ending supply of live bodies . . . to keep them occupied. What were they up to? Kovax's brow furrowed as he frowned worriedly. He spun away from the wall, the archers behind him still loosing arrows with deadly precision, and stalked along the catwalk, squinting desperately into the darkness.  
  
He was nearly on the opposite wall when he felt it. Tremors, slight vibrations, shook the wall with ever-increasing strength, until people tumbled off the walls with screams filled with fear. Kovax turned swiftly around, throwing out a hand to the palisade to keep his balance. He could barely make out Ro Jan Li on the other wall, holding on with all her strength as her legs wavered like trees in the gales of a hurricane. A sharp CRACK swiveled his attention to the center of town, where fissures and crevices were running through the dirt streets. As he observed with growing horror, shutting out the sounds of panicking villagers and his officers who struggled to control the situation, a deep hole suddenly appeared in the town square, the level ground dropping like something was . . . digging under it . . . .  
  
"NOOOOOOOO!!" Kovax cried as Gorgani poured out of the hole.  
  
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Ferio awoke suddenly, as he always did, with no transition from sleep to awareness. He had not always been so, however he had found that quick reflexes in all aspects of living kept a man alive. At least a little longer. Daylight was pouring in from his windows; the sun was at a high enough angle that he knew it was well past dawn, when he generally arose to meet the day. The King was stripped down to his underclothes and tucked neatly in bed, an operation he vaguely remembered from the previous night, when his squires had woken him from his nap in the chair and readied their Lord for bed. He rubbed a hand over his unshaven chin and sat up, the white lock of hair falling into his eyes again. He spared a moment of annoyance for the length of his hair - he really had to remember to call for a barber soon - and brushed it out of his vision. He threw aside the emerald green coverlets and rose, stretching his arm slowly out and back to relieve a sore shoulder. *A new day,* he thought without any real enthusiasm. His shimmering golden eyes stared dully about his bedroom, tidied up from the mess he had left prior to the battle the day before, and he sighed. *They cleaned. I hate it when they clean. I can never find all of my clothes when they clean.*  
  
He shrugged despondently, wincing as his shoulder muscle twinged, and shuffled into the bathing chamber. *Time to go be King.*  
  
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A short time later, King Ferio was clean and dressed. He had decided to wear his white leather tunic and leggings, each tooled with intricate gold designs that sparkled when they caught the light. If one was King, one might as well look the part, he mused. He sat in the War Room at the head of a long wooden table, which was polished to an almost painful glow. His generals, men and women both, lined each side and patiently waited for their King to begin. Hope shone faintly in their eyes as they watched him; though it was almost drowned out by despair and the underlying horror of too many battles, too much death.  
  
Ferio cleared his throat and stood. He wasted a futile moment to regret the absence of his friend and ally Lantis, who was helping the defense and rebuild of Khaal after the battle. He jerked his head at Raili, one of his squires standing ready at the door. Without a word, the teenage boy with short, bristly black hair and the long, gawky muscles of a man not yet fully grown turned down the lamps and switched on the 3-D display map that exhibited the entire planet of Cephiro in detail. Each and every small village and large city was shown, interspersed among green plains and snow- capped mountains. Previous battles were small red dots scattered over the face of the map, many of them nearby former habitations labeled as 'DESTROYED' in relatively large, bold yellow script.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen," Ferio began, "We'll begin the meeting with a review of yesterday's battle." He pointed out a white star nestled along the base of the Khaal Mountains. The generals nodded as one, and all eyes were trained on the map as miniature armies appeared; the sickly green was obviously the enemy, while the deep gold positioned around the large city of Khaal represented the King's Guardians, the main force of his army. Ferio leaned over the table and pointed out the enemy army as they moved in slow motion towards the waiting gold markers. "They appeared only ten miles from Khaal. The dragon riders were on patrol outside the city and were able to return in time to warn the standing army, which is the only reason we still have a city standing." The King's lips pressed in a thin line as he tried not to think about what would have happened had the riders been delayed, or killed, or had not seen the enemy at all. Too much of that nature had happened in the past, and while this encounter had ended in a welcome and all-too-rare victory, there had to be a way to better predict the movements of the Gorgani. There had to be.  
  
He straightened as the battle on the map proceeded, the gold marks eventually surrounding and annihilating the green. "There were no survivors among the Gorgani," Ferio said flatly. Another dilemma for which he had no solution. "Once again, those who lived through the battle fell upon their own knives when it was apparent they were going to lose."  
  
He shifted his hard gaze to his General Commander, Kyli. She gazed back with no outward sign of discomfort, her own jewel-toned irises, shimmering with iridescence more often associated with opals than human eyes, meeting her King's golden-amber orbs. The General Commander, akin to the rest of the generals present, was dressed for battle. Her silver-tooled, black leather breastplate fit her torso perfectly, the designs of dragons in flight and shining stars indicating that she was a Dragon Rider Commander, as the shimmering silver cloak pinned with a green-enameled brooch in the shape of a phoenix in flight named her General Commander of the King's Guardians. A silver helm with a full face guard rested on the table beside her. She would wrap the long blonde braid that hung down her back around her head for padding before putting the helmet on. She had brought her long-bladed knife and Katar, a weapon often called a 'punching knife,' since the hilt was crafted in the shape of an H, the grip perpendicular to the blade, and was handled like one was throwing punches (though with six inches of steel at the end of the knuckles). She had left her light crossbow and steel-headed morning star in her squire's care for the duration of the meeting.  
  
"Have you found where the Gorgani are coming from, Kyli?" Ferio asked, as he asked at every meeting. He expected no answer other than the usual 'I do not know, my King,' which was all the answer she could give him. No one knew. It was General Commander Kyli's charge to find out, however, and Ferio would hold her to that responsibility.  
  
"I believe we may have a lead on that, my Lord," Kyli answered, her lips quirking in a small, smug smile as Ferio's jaw dropped slightly. A murmur of voices filled the small room, the other five generals whispering in surprise.  
  
"What lead? What are you talking about?" demanded Kevrin, the aging general in command of the ground troops. His iron-gray hair flowed majestically to his shoulders, complementing the full beard that covered the lower half of his face, beneath a hooked nose and gray eyes that seemed chipped from a piece of flint. He stood and swept his glistening scarlet cloak, the cloak of the Infantry Commander, behind his shoulder, revealing his black leather armor, worked across his broad chest in bronze spears and swords. "I demand to know what you have found!"  
  
Kyli stood as well, barely glancing at the irate general before summoning Raili with a crook of her finger. She arched an eyebrow at Ferio, murmuring, "With your permission, my King?" He nodded slightly, trying to suppress his surprise and the feeling deep in his chest, a feeling he had not been the recipient of in almost ten years - hope. The General Commander spoke a soft command in the squire's ear, then stood in an almost unbearable silence as the boy trotted to the ivory door which was the only exit from the room, letting in both a beam of light, slightly blinding those closest to the door, and a pair of people.  
  
Both were extremely filthy, covered in dirt and old blood, their haggard expressions shouting out their exhaustion and desolation. The male walked slightly ahead of the smaller female, indicating that he was the one in charge. He was a big man, middle-aged, and taller than even general Kevrin, who was otherwise the tallest in the room. His skin was weathered and darkly tanned, suggesting he was among those who spent their lives laboring in the sun. *Perhaps a planter,* Ferio guessed. His deep brown beard was tangled and tattered, as were his curling locks of hair. The woman stood in his shadow, her dark blue eyes gleaming with intelligence as she glanced first at the assembled generals, then at the map, then finally at Ferio. The King met her steely gaze easily. She was the first to glance away, looking down at the tiles on the floor. They were both dressed in mismatched armor, and neither carried a weapon. They fell to one knee upon reaching the King, staring intently at the floor near his white leather boots.  
  
"Who are these people?" Ferio asked quietly, addressing his General Commander though he kept his eyes on the newcomers. "Rise, please. It seems you've come on a long journey, and the floor is not very comfortable in here." Kyli placed her ungloved hand on the man's shoulder and answered pridefully, "They recently survived an attack by the Gorgani on their village." She paused significantly. "They witnessed the arrival of the monsters in the town square, inside the palisade wall they had built." Gasps and whispers sounded throughout the room. Ferio sat abruptly, the heavy pressure of hope in his chest sharpening until he could hardly breathe. "What are your names?" he asked hoarsely. The pair glanced up once more, but seemed more comfortable staring at the King's chest rather than looking at his face.  
  
"Kovax. Captain Kovax," the man said in a slow drawl. "Captain of the Harowin Night Watch." He hesitated, and Kyli nudged him meaningfully "Uh, Your Majesty," he added hastily, his chocolate eyes dropping as his cheeks reddened slightly in embarrassment.  
  
"I am Ro Jan Li, Your Majesty," the woman said in a strong tenor, obviously trying to cover for Kovax's slip. She glanced up once more with innate, quiet dignity and met Ferio's slightly shocked, though eager gaze. "First Lieutenant of the Harowin Night Watch."  
  
Ferio nodded regally, excitement building as he pondered the possibilities of this miracle. "Kevrin, Aranth!" he barked. The Infantry Commander and the Cavalry Commander jolted out of their private musings at the sound of their names, but stood immediately, awaiting their King's orders. "Give these good people your seats. They have come far, and are weary." The two generals bowed deeply to the King and stepped back to the wall, standing at attention like guards at their posts. The Harowin villagers glanced at each other, then mechanically strode to the newly-emptied chairs under the gentle guidance of the General Commander. Kovax sat heavily, as though his knees would no longer support him, and Ro Jan Li did not show much more grace. Ferio waited until the two were seated, relief unconsciously reflected on their faces, before he began firing off questions in the tone of a man accustomed to being obeyed, and obeyed promptly.  
  
"Harowin, that is northeast of the Palace, is it not?" Ferio barely waited for Kovax and Ro Jan Li to nod before continuing. "The coalition of your villages, those in the Wurai Forest, was it still effective at the time of the attack?" A Circuit rider was dispatched to the Palace once every month, with news of the villages. Similar coalitions had formed all over Cephiro, the townspeople protecting themselves where Ferio and his Guardians could not. Kovax nodded. "Aye, m'Lord . . . Your Majesty. The Circuit riders had just passed through four days before." He shifted slightly in his chair. "No one saw hide nor hair of the Gorgani for a few weeks, almost a month." He sighed, glancing at the map and searching with his eyes until he found Harowin, which dissolved even as he watched by the magic powering the map and was replaced by the yellow-scripted word, 'DESTROYED.'  
  
Ferio nodded absently. "And what did you see?" he asked softly, almost whispering. Kovax faced the King squarely and described the hopeless battle from beginning to end, with Ro chiming in here and there, inserting her perspective from the opposite side of town. Tears rolled unchecked down the First Lieutenant's cheeks at the recital, recalling her to a place of blood and horror, where her fellow townspeople had been slaughtered with no quarter asked or granted. The Night Watch Captain's face only grew ever more like stone, sealing his emotions inside. "We had an escape route all planned out, if something like this happened," Kovax continued. "One or two people were to escape, more if possible, and get to the Palace. There was a small passage by the wall where we kept a couple of horses." His eyes glazed in memory, and he shivered involuntarily. "It was all over . . . just over - so fast. Ro and I . . . we were the only ones left. Everyone else is dead . . .killed after the hole opened up."  
  
"This hole," Kyli interrupted, drumming her fingers on the table, her face set in thoughtful lines. "Why have we never seen the like before?"  
  
"Because it closed right after the Gorgani came out," Ro said, wiping the wetness away from her face with a dirty hand, leaving additional streaks joining the ones already decorating her cheeks like war paint.  
  
Ferio glanced sharply at the black-haired woman. "What do you mean 'closed?' They threw dirt back into it?"  
  
Ro Jan Li shook her head. "No, Your Majesty. It was some kind of sorcery, more powerful than I have ever seen. One moment the hole was there, the next it was gone. It was a difficult thing to miss, even in the midst of fighting for my life." Shocked murmurings once again filled the War Room at this revelation.  
  
Ferio sat and deliberated, his hand absently rubbing his as-yet-unshaven cheek, pondering the value of this new information. *If they closed the hole, there may be no way to discover where they came from . . . unless . . . .* His head snapped up. "Raili, go to Guru Clef's rooms and discover whether he can join us -" He halted his speech abruptly as the door opened, revealing the Guru in its frame, surrounded by a halo of light.  
  
"My King," the small man, only half the King's own height, said formally, dipping into a respectful bow. The Guru, head sorcerer of Cephiro, did not bend knee to anyone, even the King.  
  
"Clef. Good. I was about to send for you," Ferio said, waving the little man into the room. "We may have an idea of where those damned monsters are coming from -" He frowned in puzzlement, his brow lowering over his amber eyes as his sorcerer did not budge from the doorway. "What is it, Clef?"  
  
The Guru smiled, his entire face seeming to light up from within, radiating a deep, contented joy. Ferio stood slowly. "Clef . . . ."  
  
"Come with me, my King," Clef said, his voice reflecting his inner satisfaction. He tapped his ornate staff on the tile floor lightly for emphasis. "They have come." With no further explanation, the lavender- haired sorcerer turned and departed.  
  
"Who has come, my King?" Kyli inquired after a slight pause. Ferio shook his head, as thoroughly confused as anyone. "I don't know." He turned his head from the now-empty doorway, the door still ajar, and ordered his generals to ready their soldiers for march. "We go to Harowin," he said when they inquired as to their destination. "Raili, make sure the Captain and his First Lieutenant receive the best care we can provide." He threw a measured glance in their direction. "We owe them much. We march tomorrow." He was out the door before those in the War Room had finished their bows.  
  
King Ferio strode briskly through the ivory hallways, the white marble underfoot clicking with each footfall. He saw Clef awaiting him at the end of the passage, looking like a burly dwarf in the voluminous gold-trimmed white robes he preferred, though truthfully the mage's body was very leanly muscled and trim. They fell into step with each other, Ferio shortening his impatient gait until his Guru could comfortably keep up. They walked silently together for a time, turning left here, taking the next right, as Clef directed. Most of the Palace corridors appeared similar, in that they were a uniform white color. The doorways to rooms and other passages were high arches, skillfully carved with the Flying Phoenix, the device of Ferio's kingship.  
  
Impatience boiled up in Ferio, forcing him to give up the waiting game and ask in a tight voice, "Well, Guru? What is so important that I must be pulled away from the biggest breakthrough we have had throughout this entire War?"  
  
Clef serenely kept his peace, advising the King to patience as they entered the section of the Palace set aside as living quarters for ambassadors and other highly-placed officials. Clef paused in front of an ivory door, unremarkable in its appearance, and waited a moment, the joy in his eyes making him lose control long enough to give a quick shiver of excitement. "In there, my King," he all but whispered, pointing with his staff.  
  
Ferio looked at the little man in annoyed puzzlement, then let out a breath in a huff and pushed open the door. He snapped on the lights with irritation and glared at Clef. "Well?" he asked gruffly. The Guru merely pointed his staff at the bedroom door, indicating that he enter.  
  
"Clef!" the King snapped, his patience with the Guru's silence rapidly thinning, allowing the rise of his formidable temper. "What in blazes do you bring me here for? Answer me, little man!"  
  
Clef left his staff pointed at the door and did not reply. Ferio knew he would get little out of the sorcerer while he was busy being inscrutable, so the King growled his displeasure and marched stiffly to the bedchamber, slapping the door open without slowing. He angrily flicked the lamp on and turned to survey the room . . . stopping with a numbing, heartrending shock as his angry golden gaze fell on the huge bed. He fell to his knees, suddenly weak, unable to feel, unable to take in what he saw as true and not a vision.  
  
There in the large, canopied bed lay an unconscious woman with chin-length blonde hair. She wore enameled green armor the exact shade of a perfect emerald, the exact shade, he knew in his memories, as her beautiful emerald eyes. The Magic Knight of Wind, Fuu . . . had returned to Cephiro. 


	7. homecoming

Hikaru sat up slowly. Every muscle in her body protested violently at the movement, twinges and aches running rampant through her limbs. She winced, but would not be dissuaded from climbing to an upright position on the bed. Leaning with relief against the carved wooden headboard, she looked around, attempting to asses her new situation. "I'm in Cephiro," she whispered aloud, hardly believing her own words.  
  
The room was nearly pitch-dark, lit only by the late twilight glimmer entering through the solitary window. Vague shadows and shapes sat in the gloom, identifying themselves as pieces of furniture to Hikaru's slowly adjusting eyes. Ignoring stabs and pulls from her abused body, Hikaru threw off the enveloping comforter and swung her feet to the floor. It seemed that no one had messed with her clothing before dumping her into her bed - thank goodness - as she was still wearing her armor, her magic ruby secure on her left hand. *They could have at least pulled my boots off,* she thought irritably. It was frigging uncomfortable sleeping in armor, dammit! Hikaru rose and stretched, freezing suddenly as a thought hit her. *Jo! And Rev and Zach! Where are they??*  
  
The flame-haired Magic Knight ran to the door and pulled it open, finding herself in an antechamber, which was filled almost to bursting with three cots, barely visible in the room's quiet darkness. Hikaru let out a relieved breath. *Geez. I'm getting too old for all this adventure crap. Heart attacks every other minute.* She considered waking her friends, but after all they had been through, perhaps a little more sleep was recommended. *Time to find the guys and find out what the hell is going on here.*  
  
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Umi groaned and turned over, burying her face into her pillow. *Oh . . . my . . . I hurt SOOOOOOOO much. No more fencing lessons right before a drinking binge ever again, I swear that's the last time . . . wait a minute.* The Magic Knight of Water raised her head slightly, peering through her azure hair at the wooden headboard swimming slightly in her vision, carved with large flying birds . . . a phoenix? She grunted and turned over, whining a bit at the screaming tantrum her body demonstrated at the movement. *What happened, and where the hell am I?* She remembered the gargantuan monsters and gasped in dismay, jerking up and looking around her in a sudden panic. "Well . . . it doesn't look like a prison," she said softly, uncertain and just a bit afraid. The gloaming of late twilight - almost true night - crept into the room like a stalking beast through a pair of uncovered windows, lighting the room enough for Umi to make out several nondescript chairs and a wooden writing desk in the corner. She espied a door and hurried over to it, feeling her heart rate begin to slow slightly as it opened easily into the next room. "That's promising," she whispered, creeping across the soft carpet to the next door. She opened this as well, feeling more and more as if she knew this place, as if she had been here sometime before . . .  
  
"Umi!"  
  
The yell of joy was all the warning she had before she was enfolded into a choking hug. "H-Hikaru?" Umi gasped, attempting futilely to breathe in again.  
  
"Oh, sorry Umi." Hikaru released her fellow Knight, allowing her to suck in air. The Knight of Fire beamed happily at her friend. "I'm so happy you're OK, Umi," Hikaru began.  
  
Umi stopped coughing and held up a preemptory hand. "Hikaru, what the hell are you doing in my crazy overdose dream? Do you know where the heck we are?"  
  
Hikaru paused, somewhat discomfited, then replied, "We're in Cephiro, Umi. We're back." She rolled her eyes, laughing a little. "Gotta save the world AGAIN!!"  
  
Umi stared at her friend for a minute. "Cephiro." Hikaru nodded. "We're in Cephiro." Hikaru nodded again, smiling. Umi covered her eyes with a gloved hand. "Wake up, Umi," she said calmly. "One, two, three!" She lowered her hand and looked around hopefully, frowning as the scenery did not change. A slightly worried expression began to inch onto Hikaru's face.  
  
"Um, Umi . . . ."  
  
Umi simply shook her head, too numbed at the moment to indulge in a full- scale screaming fit, as she would so very much like to do. "Well, let's go and find out what the hell is going on, then." She stalked down the hall, a slightly confused Knight of Fire following close behind her steps. *Somebody's going to answer for this. Don't these people know I have DEADLINES???*  
  
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Fuu was having the most wonderful dream. The sky was a breathtaking, azure blue, the exact color of her friend Umi's eyes; Fuu's hand trailed through the waist-high poppies as fiery red as Hikaru's long hair. The Magic Knight of Wind skipped a little in delighted anticipation as she made a path through the flowers waving gently in the warm breeze. Ahead on the apex of a small hill she could see an ancient oak spreading its branches wide to catch every beam of the summer sunlight. A figure, blurred a little but still easily recognizable, waved at Fuu from under the tree's massive boughs. Fuu's heart leapt into her throat. "Ferio!" She called, waving back frantically, beginning to run towards her prince. "Ferio!" She was almost there . . . .  
  
The dream became dark in less time than it took for Fuu to exhale her next breath. Heavy thunderheads filled the sky, turning the world black and gray. Rain sheeted down on the Knight, soaking her instantly and impeding her vision. She shivered as the wind began to howl, freezing and biting at her unprotected skin. The flowers in the field were flattened at her feet. She looked down at the dying plants with pity. They had been so beautiful. A huge CRACK and a crash forced her gaze to the top of the hill, where the once-proud oak, stunning in its strength and majesty, was split into two halves. The splintered wood still smoked from the blast, blackened in parts from the immense heat. Fuu's hands trembled in shock, her eyes widened as she tried to find her prince on top of the hill. "Ferio!!!" She screamed, echoed by a mocking peal of thunder. Tears streamed from her eyes to mingle with the punishing rain. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe . . . . "FERIO!!!"  
  
Fuu twisted away from the confining hands, screaming in absolute terror. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, and she trembled violently, fear and shock threatening to overtake her reason.  
  
Ferio grabbed for her again, unwilling to allow Fuu - his Fuu, returned to him! - to injure herself while in the throes of her nightmare. He got a hold on her this time and gathered her close to him, stroking her hair and murmuring her name and his, telling her that she was safe, that she was with him, that she would never again leave his side . . . .  
  
She quieted slowly in the protective shield of his arms, gasping and crying uncontrollably in reaction. "Ferio," she whispered hoarsely, sliding her hands around his waist to hold on tightly. "I thought you were dead, Ferio. I thought you were dead, and the lightning, and the flowers," her voice wavered into shuddering silence as Ferio continued to stroke and soothe her, rocking her as he would a small child. "I'm here, Fuu. I'm here with you. I won't let anything happen to you."  
  
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Rev shook Zach violently, bringing him sharply out of his slumber. "What? What's wrong?" The goth bassist yelped, flinging his eyes open. His brow furrowed at the sight of the lead guitar looming over his bedside. "What the hell, Rev? Did I miss a practice or something?"  
  
Rev rolled his eyes and reached down, gripping the blanket firmly and flinging it to the other side of the room. Before Zach had a chance to renew his complaints, Rev pulled him up and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look around the room. Zach went silent in shock, the events of the previous night flooding back into his conscious memory. Rev ignored his exclamations and went over to the last cot, roughly shaking Jo awake. Her first words were almost intelligible in her sleep-fogged voice, "Hikaru? Where is she?"  
  
The lead guitar of The Knights of Chaos snorted. "I think you should be asking where the hell are we and what did Hikaru get us into?" He threw out a hand to indicate their surroundings. "She left us here. Alone. How do we contact her? What are we supposed to do now?" He gripped his long brown hair in frustration, abruptly coming to a decision. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to find out where she is and where we are and what she intends to do about it." With that he jerked the door open and strode swiftly out, leaving Zach and Jo to follow as they willed. He halted briefly, looking down the corridor left and right, and as both ways appeared identical, he resolutely turned to the left, anger boiling in his chest. *Who the hell does she think she is, anyway? Getting us into this mess . . . monsters and robots and magic powers . . . is she crazy? Are we?* The last thing he remembered from the previous night was a sense of disembodiment as Hikaru's giant robot . . . absorbed them, or something. He didn't completely understand why she had brought them to - wherever they were now - but he had been so confused by the events of the evening; Zach had almost been killed, Hikaru was some sort of wizard or something, monsters the size of elephants attacking her with swords - swords, for cripes' sake! - that he hadn't argued at the time.  
  
Rev didn't notice as he grumbled that he was swiftly coming to the end of the hallway, and he almost bashed his head into the bronze doors before he looked up. "Crap!" he exclaimed in startled surprise, taking a step back. He considered the doors before him, covered with the same flying bird that seemed to be the device carved on any and all surfaces in this place, then shrugged and reached for the handle. He jumped, his hand still on the door, as a voice behind him asked coolly, "Who are you?"  
  
Rev's head whipped around. And up. The man was head and shoulders taller than Rev, standing easily in an elegant black tunic edged in red, with matching trews skimming down his legs and tucked neatly into the black leather boots on his feet. A voluminous cloak that seemed carved out of a moonless night sky was draped in heavy folds on his broad shoulders. As Rev looked further up this massive man, he beheld a face that seemed at the same time manly and beautiful, smooth-cheeked as any youth but hard with years of pain and knowledge. Black hair swept in long bangs over violet eyes, eyes that were now wary and stony as chips of granite, awaiting Rev's answer. Rev did not miss the sword resting in its worn leather sheath at the man's side, and spoke quickly, holding out his hands before him in unspoken surrender. "Hey, man, chill. I'm looking for Hikaru, she brought us here and I need to . . . find . . . hey man are you ok?" Rev asked as he watched the man, his jaw dropping fractionally in a moment of unguarded astonishment, rest his hand on the hilt of his sword.  
  
"Hikaru?" He whispered, his eyes blind, lost in bittersweet memory. He regained his customary unshakable composure in seconds, and gazed sharply at the cowering boy before him. "What do you mean? How have you come here, boy?"  
  
Rev bristled slightly at the appellation, but decided not to argue with the man; he had a friggin sword! He recounted briefly the adventures of the previous night, stressing the fact that Hikaru was the one who had brought them. The warrior stood in silence for a moment, absorbing the words, then stepped forward and gripped Rev's arm. "Hey!" Rev cried, indignant. The bandleader tugged futilely a couple of times, but the man's grip was like iron. "We will soon discover the truth of your words," the man said coldly, and began tugging Rev back down the hall.  
  
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End file.
